


Caught In The Middle *DISCONTINUED* (!!New Book!!)

by InKounter



Category: Undertale (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Abusive Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Training Shinsou Hitoshi, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ashido Mina is a Good Friend, Autistic Todoroki Shouto, BAMF Midoriya Inko, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, BAMF Takami Keigo | Hawks, Bakugou Katsuki Gets Therapy, Bakugou Katsuki Redemption, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings (but he's getting better), Bakugou Mitsuki's Bad Parenting, Bisexual Jirou Kyouka, Bisexual Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A as Family (My Hero Academia), Cryptid Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Cute Kirishima Eijirou, Cute Midoriya Izuku, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Dadmic, Dadzawa - An Aizawa Shota Zine, Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), Dustale Sans (Undertale), Emo Tokoyami Fumikage, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Errortale Sans Has Issues (Undertale), Errortale Sans Needs a Hug (Undertale), Established Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Established Relationship, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Forced God Of Destruction Errortale Sans (Undertale), Gay Bakugou Katsuki, Gay Todoroki Shouto, Gay Tokoyami Fumikage, Gen, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Homophobic Mineta Minoru, Horrortale Sans (Undertale), How Do I Tag, I repeat, Im tired, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inktale Sans (Undertale), Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki Has ADHD, Kaminari Denki is a Dork, Kirishima Eijirou is a Good Friend, Kirishima Eijirou is a Ray of Sunshine, Lesbian Yaoyorozu Momo, M/M, Mentioned Bakugou Masaru, Mentor Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku Has ADHD, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Mineta Minoru Being an Asshole, Mineta Minoru is Expelled from U.A. High School, Minor Midoriya Inko/Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Nonbinary Aoyama Yuuga, Nonbinary Thirteen (My Hero Academia), Nonbinary Tokoyami Fumikage, Nonbinary Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Ashido Mina, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Polyamory, Protective Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Protective Midoriya Inko, Protective Shinsou Hitoshi, Protective Todoroki Shouto, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru, Shinsou Hitoshi is Bad at Feelings, Shinsou Hitoshi is in Class 1-A, Smart Midoriya Izuku, Soft Takami Keigo | Hawks, Supportive Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Supportive Midoriya Inko, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor Being An Asshole, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor's Bad Parenting, Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, Todoroki Shouto is a Dork, Trans Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Trans Kirishima Eijirou, Trans Male Character, Trans Midoriya Izuku, Trans Takami Keigo | Hawks, Transphobia, Transphobic Mineta Minoru, Underlust Sans (Undertale), XTale Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, almost no one in this fic is cishet, fuck mineta, honestly i hate him, honestly im trying my best to shove all of my headcanons into one book, im going to fail i apologise, my memory is escaping me i am sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 69,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27469963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InKounter/pseuds/InKounter
Summary: It had happened so fastToo fastThey weren't ready but they followed anywayThat was their partners!They ran after themAnd suddenlyThey saw the sunBut not theirs...____________Or; The gang of gay skeletons get thrown into the BNHA universe and are trying their best to adjust
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shinsou Hitoshi, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Ashido Mina & Bakugou Katsuki & Kaminari Denki & Kirishima Eijirou & Sero Hanta, Ashido Mina/Jirou Kyouka, Ashido Mina/Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Ashido Mina/Yaoyorozu Momo, Asui Tsuyu/Uraraka Ochako, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Bakugou Katsuki/Todoroki Shouto, Iida Tenya & Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto & Uraraka Ochako, Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Kaminari Denki/Kirishima Eijirou, Kaminari Denki/Kirishima Eijirou/Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Kirishima Eijirou/Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Inko/Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku & Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto, Ojiro Mashirao/Shouji Mezou/Tokoyami Fumikage, Ojiro Mashirao/Tokoyami Fumikage, Sans (Undertale)/Other(s), Shouji Mezou/Tokoyami Fumikage
Comments: 8
Kudos: 114





	1. Untimely Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Clearing some stuff up right before we begin:
> 
> \- A lot of the characters are going to be out of character and acting my own headcanons. Get mad if you want, but I'm writing this because it's fun for me, ok? 
> 
> -There will be no "Sin". We're not children, it's not sinful to have sexual desires. But they, the characters, are. No child pornography, thanks.
> 
> -I'm going to mess up, so please be patient with me. I don't know as much about BNHA as I do about Undertale, since I only joined the fandom recently (Start of quarantine). Correct me if I mess up, but be aware some of the 'mistakes' may just be my headcanons for them.
> 
> -For the sake of the readers, most of this will be in English. There, of course, will be snippets where the groups will be speaking their mother tongues and so on, but the majority will be English. 
> 
> When: Right before the Sports Festival in season two
> 
> There are established relationships, so lemme dish em out along with some other needed info
> 
> we got:
> 
> -Error (he/them, demiboy) + Lust (he/him, male)(and Lust's son Compassion[he/him, male])
> 
> -Cross (he/them, demiboy)+ Nightmare(he/him, male)
> 
> -Dream (he/she/them, genderfluid)+ Ink(they/them, nonbinary)
> 
> -Killer(he/him, male) + Dust(he/him, male) + Blueberry(he/them, trans male)
> 
> -Horror doesn't date, as he's aromantic

If you had asked Error earlier if he thought he would be chasing someone into a whole new multiverse that would change his entire outlook on life, he would've laughed in your face and left. Not that he hadn't travelled multiverses before, it's just that he didn't think he'd be stupid enough to blindly follow someone into a place he hadn't studied beforehand. 

Well, we all make mistakes.

It had been Compassion's Celebration Day Party, nearing the end of it. All of his friends were finally saying goodbye and heading home to their families, probably to eat all of the candy they had stocked up on during the pinate event. That only left the main group, excluding Geno and Reaper who had been unable to come since airports were still closed. Ink was in the kitchen with Blueberry and Dust, who were cleaning up the food and washing up the dishes. Nightmare, Error, and Horror were outside taking care of the dogs and cleaning up the mess of a pinate that lay in the grass. Cross and Lust were helping Compassion take all his presents up to his room and find places for them. Killer and Dream were off somewhere, probably gathering the stuff for the remainder of the night.

It was almost tradition at this point, as the group always did smores after a celebration day party. 

So as they all hurried in finishing their tasks, they began setting up the fire pit. They decided it was better to grab the marshmallows form inside so no bugs got into them. Lust, Cross, and Compassion went first since they had finished their tasks first. 

"Come on! Hurry up, Papa!" Compassion giggled as he dragged Lust outside, "Uncle Cross! Come make smores with me!" 

"We're coming, we're coming," Cross giggled with him, holding the three's marshmallows in his hand as he followed them outside.

"You're excited today, huh?" Lust smiled, following his son outside.

"Of course! It's my celebration day!"

"We know, Candy Cane," Lust laughed.

"Hurry up you all, before we eat all the marshmallows!" Cross yelled inside.

"Hey!! Just because you had less to do does not give you that right-!" Dream yelled back. 

" **Beetle, you need to calm down before you break something,** " Nightmare said, nodding to the dish in Dream's hands.

Dream grumbled for a moment before finishing up the dish he was on. 

"They'd steal them all anyway," he grumbled.

He set down the towel, spinning on his heel so he could look for his lover. Nightmare smiled at his sibling's annoyance and opted to go join the other three. Error was already out there, leaning against the bannister and watching his partner and son fumbler over the sticks and stones.

"Papa! Can I lit the fire this time?" Compassion asked, a hopeful smile on his face as he bounced in his place. 

Lust hesitated for a moment, his gut reaction wanting him to say no. But he opted to ignore it, and smiled softly instead. He gently put a hand atop Compassion's head and held out the lighter. 

"Alright, I trust you, ok? Do you remember how to do it?" 

"Yeah!" Compassion grinned, reaching into the pit and grabbing one of the sticks. 

Lust sat down by Cross, watching Compassion in case he needed his help. It took him a minute since the stick he was holding was a bit thick, but eventually, he managed to set it ablaze. He grinned and laughed, feeding it into the rest of the pile. When Compassion had successfully lit the fire, Lust relaxed and a proud smile set on his face. Compassion was by no means incapable of doing things like this himself, but it was just first-child jitters, he guessed. Lust looked back to the deck, where Nightmare and Error were discussing something quietly. From the looks of it, it was probably a more casual conversation, since both looked rather relaxed. Cross looked back as well and lifted his arm, waving the two over.

"Come on you slowpokes!" he yelled.

Nightmare looked up and Error turned, Nightmare holding up a tentacle in turn.

" **One second, CrissCross!** " He yelled back.

Cross rolled their eyes and stood, making their way to Compassion's side.

"You ready to melt some 'mallows?" they said as they offered one to the boy.

"Yes!!" Compassion said excitedly. 

The two giggled as the skewered their soft treats with the thin bamboo rods and held them out to the flame. Lust chuckled at their childishness, deciding to instead wait for the rest of the group. He, luckily, was the most patient of the group. He hummed a little tune as he bounced his leg, looking out at the vast woods the lay behind the house. But he stopped abruptly as he saw a set of antlers in the near distance, tilting his head. 

'Were the deer out this early in the evening?' he thought to himself. 

He stood from his spot, going towards the woods to try and see whatever had caught his attention better. Compassion looked up from where he was eating his marshmallow and tilted his head at his father in silent question. 

"Papa?" he said, his mouth still full.

"I think there's a deer out there," he said after a moment of silence, a smile on his face.

Compassion gasped and grabbed Cross's hand, dragging him with him to help look for the creature. Cross gave a noise of surprise but quickly swallowed their marshmallow so they didn't choke. Compassion and Cross moved to Lust's side, looking around the woods.

"Where, Papa?!" 

"Hold on, sweetheart, we need to stay quiet in case we scare it."

"Oh- Shh- Sorry-"

The three looked into the brush, staying still and quiet to see if they could see the movement again, before collectively turning their heads at the sound of a snapped twig. Lust held a finger up to his mouth, taking a step forward. He spotted the silhouette of the antlers again, smiling with pride. He turned to Compassion and point to the figure.

"There it is-" he whispered.

Compassion gave a whisper squeal since he adored woodland animals. They watched as the antlers came closer, and suddenly Lust realized that the figure was way too tall to be a normal deer. The proportions on it were wrong, the steps to quiet and uniform, the _SOUL_ felt wrong. He backed up a bit, ushering the other to back and looking to the deck to make sure Error and Nightmare were still there to see them in case they need. Compassion seemed to notice as well, his eyes squinted in confusion. 

Then, without warning, the silhouette came speeding towards them. Lust nearly tripped over Compassion as he tried to back them up. He almost yelped, but the figure was too fast. One moment, they were looking at a black shadow, the next, they were looking into the hauntingly blue eyes of what appeared to be either a monster or spirit. They couldn't scream, though Compassion gripped Lust's arm like his life depended on it. The beast was hunched over them, too tall to look them in the eyes standing up straight. It said something to them, but they were too entranced by it's eyes to listen. 

They were so... big. So blue, so glittering. Bright, deep, and swirling. Almost like those spirals you see in hypnosis. A deep blue ocean... The ocean... The waves were calming...

The deer spirit smirked, admiring his work as the three skeleton monsters fell into his trance, their eyes a light blue. Now, he had to wait for the others to notice. He looked up to the two on the deck, deciding they were taking to long to his liking. Letting out a low huff, he looked back over to the fire pit and gave an unimpressed look. He walked over to it, the three's gaze still locked on him, and kicked it over. He gave a satisfied hum as he watched the grass start to catch fire. 

Boy did that catch their attention. Error looked up first, the growing sound of fire crackling slightly annoying him. His eyes widened and he nearly fucking lept over the bannister as he noticed the flames growing and the new figure.

" **HEy!!** " they yelled, their glitched voice causing the spirit to look up. 

Nightmare followed as well, banging his tentacle on the glass sliding door to alert the others inside. 

" **What the fuck are you doing?!** " Nightmare roared.

The spirit only looked at them blankly before taking off into the woods. And to the two's horror, so did Compassion, Lust, and Cross. Error swore as he followed behind them, hating that he couldn't use his strings in the woods since they would get tangled in the trees. 

" **LuST-!!** " They called out, " **lUSt wAiT-!!** "

Lust couldn't hear him, only speeding behind the figure, Compassion's hand held tightly in his own. His mind was too focused on getting those hauntingly beautiful eyes back in his vision. The three almost looked as graceful as wolves, their speed impressive but annoying to try and catch up to.

The rest of the group came out in a flurry of confusion, Dream rushing forward first as he noticed his brother taking off towards the woods. He didn't know why, but the tension and fear he sensed in Nightmare's soul was enough to convince him. 

"Come on-!" He yelled.

"Dream-! What's going on-?!" Ink yelled, trying to catch up to him.

"I don't know but it's important-!" 

"Then hurry the fuck up!" Horror growled as he ran ahead of them both. 

Nightmare had given up on trying to outrun them, instead melting into the shadows of the forest and slinking under Error. As Error noticed what was under them, they grunted and jumped onto the liquid form. Nightmare grabbed onto his ankles and the two slunk behind them with growing speed. Error took a risk and summoned an attack in front of the Spirit in an attempt to stop them. They reacted too slow and slammed their face into it with a hiss. They tumbled to the ground, but shot their hand forward, letting go of the ball of light that they had been holding. 

The ball sent a wave of light through the woods that nearly knocked Error form Nightmare's grip as it landed. Error winced, the sound throwing off his focus. The light gave a deafening roar as it grew into a swirling and intimidating portal. 

" **ShIT-!!** " Error swore as the three didn't stop.

" **Error-!!** " Nightmare yelled.

Error looked back in the direction they came, just in time too. Their reflexes kicked and he caught the arrow that had been shot in their direction. 

" **Hoist them back-!** " Nightmare demanded.

Error nodded, pulling his strings from his sockets and tying them to the arrow. He promptly shot the arrow back, even as the two approached the portal. They looked back and forth anxiously, waiting for Dream to tug the other end. They let out a cry of pain as Dream finally tugged, grabbing onto their strings with a grunt. 

" **IncOMinG-!** " they said to Nightmare.

Summoning all his strength and focusing it into his arms, he yelled out as he yanked his string back, immediately hearing the other's cries of surprise getting closer. Dream crashed through the trees, falling into a graceful tumble roll and letting the others go from the grasp of his magic. His eyes widened as he finally caught sight of the situation at hand and sprinted towards them, nearly tripping in the process. 

"Error-! Look-!" Dream called to him, pointing towards their friends.

Error whipped around, nearly calling out as Lust ran into the portal. Compassion and Cross followed right behind. Nightmare swore, dropping Error and solidifying himself just so he could launch a tentacle in after them. He failed to grab them and instead used his tentacles to launch himself throw the portal. Error grunted as they fell, launching themselves back up onto their feet. Dream tapped their arm as the ran past them, Killer running up behind him and pushing him forward.

"What the fuck happened?" Killer yelled to Error as they ran.

" **I dON't kNow!! I jUSt sAw THe fIre AnD THat cRaZY kiD aND RaN!** "

Killer hissed and charged to the portal. Behind them, Ink snarled in frustration, noticing they wouldn't all make it at this pace. Grabbing their brush from their back, they slammed it into the ground. This qued black ink rising from the forest floor, growing rapidly. The whole group let out a screech of surprise as the wave washed them all towards the portal at near mach 10 speeds- Luckily, it got them all through it before it closed, near cutting off the end of Ink's precious brush. 

Error got up immediately, letting out a sigh or relief as all the ink he was previously covered with returned to Ink's brush. Nightmare stumbled as he regained his balance, looking around frantically for Cross. Blueberry groaned as he sat up from his place, thankfully still holding Dust's hand from when they were thrown.

"If it's not one thing, it's another-" he mumbled.

"Fucking amen to that- We ever get a break around here?" Killer huffed, helping the two up. 

"I don't even know why I followed since now it seems we're stuck here-" Horror complained. 

"Guys shut up-" Dream hissed.

Nightmare suddenly bolted forward as he spotted the three they had been chasing laying on the ground. Error's eyes widened as he spotted them, noticing they weren't moving and followed behind.

" **Cross!!** " Nightmare yelled, skidding on his knees next to his lover, " **Cross-! Are you ok-? Cross-!!** " 

Error flinched a bit at Nightmare's yelling, instead going to Lust's side and hugging him to his chest gently, pulling Compassion close as well. He let out a sigh of relief as he still felt their soulbeats. 

They were alive. 

But the question now was, where were they?

Dream, stepping forward, looked around at their surroundings. They appeared to be in a city of some sort, lots of buildings standing tall and proud. The streets were abnormally clean, so he could cross America off the list of countries or places they were in. Looking at the sidewalks, he suddenly realized they had attracted quite the crowd. A cautious one, as they didn't circle them, but a crowd nonetheless. He gulped as he noticed their burning but curious stares, walking up to Nightmare's side. 

"Nightmare... We have a crowd-" he said softly, fidgeting with the sleeves of his dress uncomfortably. 

Nightmare looked up from Cross for a moment, his eyes actually opening a bit wider in shock. He was no master of world codes and files as Error was, but he had basic awareness. And he gathered just from a glance around them that this was not their world. He reached over and tapped Error, who had started to space out from the stress of earlier, to get their attention. Error looked up as well, glitching harshly from the sudden realization. He let go of Lust and Compassion out of fear of hurting them and backed up a bit. Not that it helped but hey it was an effort-

" **sH-h-h-hIt- ! WheRE- W-w-w-hErE aR-r-r-r-rE We-**?" They got out, their voice exceptionally glitchy as their body tried to accept the multiversal difference. 

It seemed to hit the others as well, now that the glitches had started to spread. For a moment, the whole group's bodies shifted in offset, glitched screams of agony emitting from all of them and even waking Lust, Compassion, and Cross from their blackouts. They all clutched their skulls in pain, curling into themselves on the ground. It only lasted a few seconds thankfully, but a few seconds was enough for the residents that had been watching them to call in the police. Ink was the first to recover, wiping a bit of the black ink from their lips as they stood back up with the help of their brush. 

"Everyone ok-?" They called out weakly, hobbling over to Dream to make sure he was ok. 

"Damn- I wish I had died from that-" Blueberry whined, leaning against Killer for support. 

"Blue-" Dust said as stern as he could manage.

"Fine fine- Yeah- I'm ok-" 

Cross sat up from where they were laying, looking around in panic and confusion.

"Nightmare-? What- What in the fuck happened I- What- I was-"

" **Shhh- Cross, it's ok- Take a deep breath for me, I'm right here-** " Nightmare said softly, grabbing Cross's hands gently as to try and calm them down. 

Cross looked in Nightmare's eyes, being confused and scared as hell- But, nonetheless, when Nightmare started to take slow and deep breaths, he tried his best to mimic them. Having an anxiety attack right now would not help anyone. Nightmare was simultaneously trying to calm himself, since the faster he was breathing the more the pain increased.

" **It's ok. We're gonna figure this out. I promise.** "

"D-dad-?" Compassion got out weakly.

Error spun around, immediately kneeling in front of the younger boy. 

" **Hi sODa pOP. I'm hEre. aRE YoU oK?** " he asked, looking over at Lust as well.

Compassion gave a frightened whimper, reaching out and hugging Error. Error hugged back, gently taking Compassion into his lap. Lust took a moment to collect his thoughts before scooting up to Error and leaning on him as well. He didn't know what was going on but as long as his son and partner were alright, he couldn't find the energy to care about anything else. 

Blue held Killer close like his life depended on it, not wanting the other to panic and freak out. Dust stood behind Killer, and the two were officially sandwiching him in a protective hug. Killer, while still a bit shaken up, softened his expression a bit, even as he whipped his head around wildly at the nosy bystanders. The stress and situation gave him too much of a window of memories, but he was more worried about his little brother. He looked around for Cross, sighing in relief when he saw the younger being comforted by Nightmare. 

_He's ok. We're ok_ , he thought to himself.

Dream squeezed Ink's hand gently a he felt the other start to tremble. He was well aware it was not from fear, since the other feared practically nothing, but rather their illness coming back to bite their ass- Ink looked up with a weak but thankful smile, leaning into their partner for support. 

"Well damn ok guess I'll just rot here alone then. I'm fine, thanks for asking," Horror put in sarcastically, laying on the ground still and looking up at the 'gross romance' around him.

He didn't get much time to complain though, as the sound of police sirens put all of them on high alert. Everyone's posture stiffened and straightened, turning towards the direction of the sirens. Nightmare clenched his fists in anger, looking out at the civilians who had started to disperse at the sound of the sirens. He let out an angered growl, baring his fans at them and revealing the bright glow from inside his mouth. A few scampered away in fear while the rest all hurried inside. 

" **Of fucking course,** " he growled.

Cross held his hand, gently squeezing it to try and calm his lover. Nightmare gave a small apologetic look before stepping out in front of the group. Error joined him, with Lust not too far behind. Cross was hesitant, and instead lingered a few steps back. 

The cop cars came closer, stopping a few meters in front of them. Humans piled out of the car, dressed in their usual boring cop attire. But what was definitely different but a helpful clue was how the logos on the side of the cars were in Japanese. 

_Japan,_ Error thought, _only been here once or twice back home._

Nightmare tried his best to seem unaffected by the situation, or at most only merely annoyed. He hated cops with every fibre of his being but as long as they weren't American he'd bite. 

For now.

The cops pulled out a megaphone, and Error visibly flinched, not wanting to hear the horrible screech. Lust noticed and pulled his defenders from his bag, handing them to Error. Error gave him a grateful kiss on the forehead as he accepted them. He slipped them on just in time for the cops to begin speaking into it.

"ここで何をしているのか教えてください。 あなたの友人や敵ですか？( _State your business! Are you friend or foe?_ )" the cop shouted.

The group looked around at each other in sudden panic and confusion. None of them spoke Japanese- Not well anyway. Ink stepped forward, in front of Nightmare and holding up a hand to silence him before he protested.

'I can handle this,' they signed to him.

"私たちは日本語を話さない。私たちは英語を話します。( _We don't speak Japanese. We speak English._ )" Ink said slowly, trying to remember what they had been taught oh so long ago.

Luckily, the cops didn't react harshly at all, instead ushering their best English speaking cop to the front and handing her the megaphone. She stepped forward, braver than her colleagues. 

"He asked what your business is here! Are you heroes or villains?!" she translated.

Nightmare, Horror, and Killer had to keep themselves from laughing at the question.

" **LoOK- We DoN'T KnoW WHaT ThaT mEAnS, mISs. We DOn't KnOW wHAt'S GOinG oN eITheR**." Error explained, his glitched voice startling a few of the officers.

"Will you attack us if we step forward to ask some questions?!"

" **Not unless you attack us first.** " Nightmare spoke up.

The woman nodded, respecting that answer and starting to move forward. She was held back though by her coworkers who started speaking fast Japanese to her. Her eyes widened for a moment before she nodded, lifting the megaphone once more. 

"We're going to need you to wait a moment until our unit's Pro Hero gets here and then we will question you!"

" **Sure. Until then we're checking up on our group. Don't shoot.** "

Nightmare turned back to Cross, gently hugging the smaller close to him as the other let out a sigh of relief.

"P-pro hero-?" they asked in a small voice.

" **I have no idea, Crisscross. We just have to wait until they get here I guess.** " he whispered.

Error turned as well, just in time for Compassion to crash into him and hug his legs tightly out of fear. Error let out a small noise of surprise before letting out a little sigh. He gently placed a hand atop Compassion's skull and rubbed gently.

" **It'S Ok, SOda pOP- I wON't LEt anYTHinG HaPPeN To yOu You KNoW ThaT?** " he said softly to him.

Compassion nodded just as Lust gently went to pick him up. Shifting the boy in his arms carefully so he was balanced on his hip, Compassion snuggled into Lust's hold. Error, in turn, hugged the both of them carefully, placing a kiss atop both their skulls. 

Dream came up behind Nightmare and Cross, holding Ink's hand still and placing a hand on Cross's shoulder. The two looked up and Dream waved with a small smile. 

"If you want, me and Ink can do most of the talking. I know you don't like cops, Nightlight." Dream offered.

Nightmare gave a small grateful smile, his grip on Cross loosening just a bit so he could lower his arms to their lower back instead. He shook his head.

" **Thanks, Dream. But I got it.** " Nightmare said.

Dream nodded as well, looking back over to the cops.

"As long as you're sure. But I guess now it's just a waiting game."

"Not for long," Ink put in, making the three turn to them as they stared at the sky. 

"Incoming. I can't tell what it is but I know it's coming." they said, their voice monotone. 

Everyone looked up to the sky as a roar rang through it. Not a deafening one, but definitely one that broke the sound barrier. Ink stared at the red blur that showed itself from behind a building and was speeding towards them. It was hard to read, since this world's codes were so different from their home's but they at least got a name. 

"Hawks. They're called Hawks."

" **Is that all you can get?** "

"This code is too foreign for me to do much else."

" **Cool. Hawks**."

The police officer got out of the way as this 'Hawks' character dove down to them, landing in a neat barrel roll before standing up straight. His outfit was very unique, to say the least. Brown leather jacket with fur on the edges paired with a decorated black tee adorned his torso. A baggy but comfy looking pair of matching brown pants hung from his hips. And while his red wings and golden eyes seemed to tie the look together, something about him bothered Error. Hawks seemed taken aback by their appearance for a moment, raising an eyebrow from behind his glasses and tilting his head. The police officer from earlier came up to his side, explaining the situation to him. He seemed to understand, nodding along as she spook but he still kept an eye on them. Ink gave him an empty stare, their eye-lights white and barren of feeling. Hawks seemed put off by it, instead letting his eyes wander to the rest of the group. 

As the lady finished up, Hawks nodded and stood up straight, clapping his gloved hands. 

"Right! So you must be the new wave of villains rumoured to have been lurking about. Or are those just the mindless rambling of a scared civilian." he spoke, his voice loud and clear as he walked forward. 

" **The latter,** " Nightmare spoke before Dream could, " **We don't even know how we got here, so we know nothing at all about this whole... Villain-Hero thing you got going on here**."

Hawks nodded slightly, stopping only a few feet in front of them and crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Alright then. What are you doing here, might I ask?" 

" **We don't know. We just followed our partners through this portal that this creepy spirit fucker dragged them through. Then boom, here.** " he replied, half sarcastically.

"You seem to be the designated leader of this group. Do you have a name for your bunch?"

" **Friends I guess. And I'm not the leader, just the tallest,** " he snickered. 

Hawks nodded, eyeing the group and looking them all over. His eyes lingered on Compassion, Nightmare and Error though, since the three stuck out the most. 

"You're all skeletons, I assume? Are you the result of a quirk experiment or reanimation quirk?" 

**"I don't even know what the shit a 'quirk' is but I know we weren't made from whatever that is.** "

Hawks nodded, his wings twitching irritably as he tried to think.

"You got someplace to be? Because you keep twitching like you wanna hurry up," Lust spoke up.

"Hm? Oh. No, thank you. I'm just thinking. And I think you're going to need to come back with me so we can figure out what to do with you." 

" **Seems reasonable. Where do you need us to go, birdman?"**

"You're going to be coming with me to the police station first. Then I believe I will have to take you to The Hero Commission since they know better than I how to handle these situations."

" **You say that like this happens often.** "

"It doesn't, but they're constantly over-prepared so they'll have to have something for you at least."

" **I guess. And assuming you're going to accompany us to the police station, we'll be following you. We're not cramming into any type of car.** "

"You lot can fly?"

"Some of us, and others have help." Lust spoke up.

"... Alright, I'll lead the way then."

Hawks flew a few feet up in there, hovering there and waiting for the group to follow. Error let go of Lust, standing a few feet back and holding out his hand. At that moment, a glitched and dark gaster blaster materialized, being about the size of an American hummer. Hawks blinked in awe and surprise, backing up a bit as the giant dog skull looking beast lowered to the ground. Lust helped Compassion up onto it first, climbing up onto it and holding onto the horns. Error floated up beside them, petting his blaster with a smile.

"Help, huh..." Hawks mumbled to himself. 

Dust followed suite, summoning his own blaster, which resembled a sort of giant horned lion skull. Blueberry and Killer climbed up on either side, Dust sitting in between them. They also managed to grab onto the horns. 

"Heyy-" Horror called up to the three, "Got room for one more?"

Killer sighed and rolled his eyes," Get up here, you lazy ass."

Horror grinned, jumping up and onto the blaster. He sat at the very front, right between the eyes. The blaster tried to look to him, nearly going cross-eyed. He laughed and pet them gently. 

Dream and Ink had no need for blasters, Dream simply summoning his golden wings and floating up, Ink not even needing wings. The two smiled at each other, Ink giving Dream a little peck on the forehead when no one was looking. 

Nightmare remained on the ground, waiting for them to get moving so he could follow. Hawks looked to him with a confused expression but Nightmare just waved him off. Shrugging, Hawks turned to the police, motioning to the group. 

"I'm going to be leading them to the police station! I expect you'll meet us there!" he yelled down to them.

They nodded in understanding, all scrambling to get back into their cars. Hawks shook his head, not having expected it to take this long. He massaged his wrists gently, the seams in his gloves rubbing against the already irritated skin. Looking back to the group of skeletons, he sighed.

_More to fight for then, huh_ , he thought to himself.


	2. Settling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talk of arrangments as the gang starts to get used to their new environment during their extended stay and development with our favourite broccoli boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to add except that this story was on my wattpad account, InKounter, first  
> so I will be posting all of the chapters I have already finished so I can get caught up and then you'll have to wait in real time for the rest

As Hawks flew along, he tried his best to keep his mind off of the ones trailing behind him.

Don't wrong him, he knew their presence would arouse suspicion and curiosity from officials and civilians alike. Hell, he was extremely intrigued himself.

But he got a weird vibe from them.

They're clearly not from around here, on account of them not knowing what quirks were and their rather unique experience. But that leaves the question of where they came from. Their... Abilities were unique as well. Flying skulls-? Sure the tentacles and wings were a bit more in the range of quirks, but they felt so off.

So different.

Honestly, all Hawks could think of to define this group was unique.

It was unoriginal, sure, but he was never too good with his words.

The angel looking one flew up beside him, matching his speed. It was in this moment that Hawks realized that he knew none of their names- He'd have to ask when they get there.

"Mr Hawks? How close are we to the police station? The younger ones are getting exhausted from the extended use of their magic," they said.

Hawks looked back to the back of the group, where the lion skull group seemed to be lagging behind, the purple and red-eyed skeleton looking like they were pushing themselves. He turned back to the Angel, pointing to the building ahead of them.

"It's just up ahead. A bit longer," he reassured.

"Alright, thank you." the angel smiled.

Hawks nodded, taking a moment to rear back before taking a nosedive. He spread his wings open wide at the last second, halting his course to the ground. With a proud smirk, he floated the rest of the way to the ground. Looking up, he saw the group following suite. The angel dropped to the ground, landing in a neat roll before standing back up. The glitchy one and the one with a blank stare simply floated down to the ground, the glitchy dog skull coming down with its owner. The one who had lagged in the back finally landed, the skull disappearing immediately. The group fell the rest of the way down, landing in a heap of bone. The two closest to the owner crowded him immediately, as he seemed exhausted.

Hawks walked towards them, slightly curious. He had moved just in time too, as the last, tentacled skeleton landed right where he had been standing. He looked back, raising a brow before straightening his posture. He noticed the last one, the one with red and white eyes climbed off of his back, looking rather calm despite seemingly be launched throughout the city.

"Right. Follow me then."

" **I mean, we have no one else to follow so I guess-** "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nightmare swore, he swore to himself, that if Cross and Compassion had not been there then he would have blown that fucking building to bits.

 _God_ humans are nosy.

Why in the fuck did they need to know that shit? Sure, names, ages, and gender are ok I guess but who the shit needs to know about all their relationships? Their _sex life_? Fucking sick bastards, the lot of them. If they made a single move towards _his_ group and who was _his_ he would slaughter them, no questions asked.

He looked down as he felt Cross gently squeeze his hand, looking up at him with a concerned expression. They snuggled close to him, their magic seeming to reach out to him. He sighed, relaxing his body and squeezing their hand back.

" **You ok, Crisscross?** " he asked softly.

"Yeah... Just- A little weirded out-"

" **Same. They were being hella fucking nosy**." he scoffed.

Error grumbled to themselves, tapping their fingers on their arms in silent agreement with the other two.

"Apparently we still apply to human laws and logic despite the fact of being an entirely different species," Killer said, rolling his eyes.

The group made their way through the doors, not caring enough to wait for this Hawks guy that was supposed to be escorting them. What they did not realize, as they opened the front doors of the police station, was that a bigger crowd had gathered. Including paparazzi. The crowd was buzzing with a jumble of words, questions, and flashing cameras at the group, their voices all lapsing together and making them intangible.

Killer, Cross and Error tensed immediately, overwhelmed by the number of people, the lights, and the lack of escape. Nightmare stood protectively in front of the group, his tentacles covering their faces from pestering cameras. Lust clutched onto Compassion to keep him out of view, Dream aiding in shielding them by summoning his wings again. Nightmare glared out at the lot of them, tempted to yell at them and cuss them out. But he didn't want to ruin any chance his family had, so he kept his mouth shut. 

He did, however, try his best to make himself look larger and more intimidating to try and scare them away. 

None of them had to wait long, luckily, as Hawks had finished speaking with Tsukauchi and had cleared out their passes. He waved to the mass of reporters and snakes, even as he was feeling a bit overwhelmed himself. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your concern and I implore you for your curiosity. But me and this group must be moving on now. We need to move on to the Hero Commission so a collective decision can be made. Thank you for your time." Hawks said, spreading his wings as he walked through the crowd as to part them.

The group took the opportunity, Dream flanking to the back and moving his wings forward as Nightmare stayed in the front. They shielded the group from sight as they walked through the crowd that Nightmare kept parted with his intimidating glare. As they walked through, Lust managed to catch sight or a kid in the back of the group. They looked rather young, holding a backpack and looking to them all with large eyes. They had a rather impressive mop of messy green hair, making Lust smile a bit.

"Nice style kid," he said quietly.

"The Hero Commission building is just up this way," Hawks said, "We don't need to fly this time."

"They're not allowed inside, right?" Dream asked.

"Of course not- The information we're going to be discussing is way to confidential for the press to try and twist into their own words."

" **Fun. Welcome to yet another debate about our right to exist**." Nightmare said sarcastically.

"It's not like that-"

" **Those police officers back there looked like Ink had three heads when they said they were nonbinary. And no offence,** ** _Hawks_** **, but you looked sceptical when Error said he has high need ASD.** " Nightmare stated bluntly, looking to the hero with an unimpressed expression.

Hawks shut his mouth, deciding to instead stay quiet. He sighed and waved Nightmare off.

"Sure, pal. I'll try and mediate the situation if it gets too... Heinous, ok?"

" **Fine**."

"Nightmare-?" Blue spoke up from the back of the group, looking to Killer worryingly.

" **Hm?** "

"Killer's reached burnout and he won't even walk forward by himself-" Dust said, holding his boyfriend's hands as their other partner held Killer's face.

Nightmare flanked back from the front for a moment, reaching out and gently lifting Killer onto his back with his tentacles. Holding him in place with one, he went back to the front to use his other three to shield the group. Hawks looked to him with a questioning look and Nightmare shook his head, not having the ability to explain at that moment. 

Hawks frowned slightly, his hands moving to the seams of his gloves again before he looked back forward.

"Right. So, we have a representative from the Commission here, and he is going to help us decide where you all should go. Not to worry though, as you will not be split up under any circumstances."

" **We better not.** " Nightmare hissed, passing back the badges to the rest of them.

"And, by the way, if you don't agree with the council's decision then you are more than welcome to bring it up with another power. He's just a representative, not the president."

"That's definitely a bit more reassuring-" Lust mumbled.

"Uh- Mr Hawks-? Does this council meeting thing gonna just have us settle in to the country or like- Help us find a way home-?" Blueberry spoke up, clutching Dust's hand anxiously.

"I'm not sure. I'm not really present during a lot of these meetings, since I'm not usually as free as I was today, but I can tell you that either way, you will be able to get a place to stay for a while." Hawks half-lied.

If he was honest, he didn't know if the laws brought into question would apply to the skeletons. He's never seen a situation like this before so damn he was going in like a blind as a headless chicken.

"Any more questions before we head up?"

"I do actually," Ink spoke up, "This whole Hero Villain thing you got going on around here. Does that happen often? Like are there just constantly 'super villains' around or are there just little petty crimes?"

"Mostly it's just small crime, yes. But we have a rampant Yakuza up and running that plots to erase quirks completely and a group of Villains that constantly goes for our number one hero so that's definitely not just your usual shift on a Saturday night."

Ink nodded, stepping back as they quickly lost interest.

"I do too- How do you become a Pro Hero-? You just kinda duke it out all gladiator-like?" Horror asked.

"Hell no- If we did that there wouldn't be Japan left standing. Most of the time, after middle school, quirk kids end up going to one of the elite hero training academies so they can get the proper training to know how to do rescues, find a villain's weakness, harness their quirk so they don't destroy themselves with it while trying to use it. You can also go to a quirk trade school, learning how to profit off of your quirk and or use your quirk to expand your business if you're older."

Hawks looked down at his watch and swore, taking off towards the stairs and ushering the others to follow.

"If you have any more questions you can ask them after the meeting is over, but right now we really need to get up there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 **"So basically, what your saying is, we can either become heroes or lab rats.** " Nightmare stated slowly, his patience running thin.

"Well, that's not the terms I would use but-"

"Sir, apologies for interrupting but you told us that you wanted us to power an entire city because our magic happens to be 'Unstoppable' as you put it. That sounds pretty close to being a lab rat," Dream put in, not believing the shit she was hearing either.

This 'meeting' was definitely different. Interesting or enriching? Certainly not. The small family had listened to this crazy looking man who apparently was named Mera ramble on and on about how fascinating they were and talking to them more like they were a specimen in a lab rather than living beings. It was creepy, and even Hawks had to step in and refocus the discussion. And when they finally got down to the terms and conditions of their 'extended stay' there wasn't much of an argument allowed. Sure, both options sounded better than being hunted for sport or deported in a world they know nothing about, but it was still a bit forced onto them.

"I understand the options sound a little bit far-fetched, especially since our hero program is targeted towards teenagers. But if you would just consider the possibility and upper-hand we could gain on the villains if we had people like you on our side, I'd think you'd like to reconsider."

"What if we choose not to be?" Dust spoke.

"Pardon-?"

"I said, what if we choose not to be heroes? What if we get all this training and we decide to be villains instead?"

"..." Mera looked blankly at him, trying to figure out if he was joking or not.

"Relax Doc, I'm just kidding. I'm down to be a hero." Dust said, laughing even as Blueberry kicked him under the table.

"I am too," Dream sighed, leaning back in her seat.

"Me too," Ink agreed.

"U-us too-" Cross put in, squeezing Nightmare's hand.

"We are as well. Better than being stuck in a lab," Lust said, still gently rubbing Error's back as the taller held Compassion in his lap.

"The rest of us are down. When do we start?" Horror asked, scratching at his eye socket.

"Well.. It would take a while to set up, since none of you existed in our documents until today so we would need to make all of your papers-"

" **ThAT's nOT a PRoBlem. I cAN TakE cARe oF thAT** ," Error said, surprising everyone that they had spoken up.

"Oh... Well, if you don't mind me asking, how would you know?"

" **It'S SImPle. I jUSt NEeD tO tWEaK a fEW cODeS aNd wE'll BE sEt. Is THat AlL thAT's HaLTinG uS?** "

"That's- Incredible- But no, we also would need to set up a meeting with one of the academies so we could start your training as soon as possible."

"Sir, if I may, why don't the use Yuuei? It's in town and one of the top hero academies in the country," Hawks put in, offering a small wink to the group.

Dream rose a brow, suddenly wary of the Bird's intentions.

"Hm. That's a pretty good idea. All Might teaches there, no? Yes. That's perfect! I'll have to call the school immediately. Thank you all for your time and cooperation. You are dismissed." Mera said, standing up like his ass was on fire and promptly leaving the room.

Hawks turned to the group with a smile, leaning against the chair. The others stood as well, looking to Hawks and expecting an answer.

"Yuuei? What's that-?" Cross asked.

"Well, if you were listening, you heard it was a prestigious academy. It's nothing to worry about, a few of my closest friends went there when we were younger." Hawks assured.

" **Yeah well, That dude left without telling us where we could sleep until we get this 'meeting' so now what**." Nightmare said.

Hawks did a double-take for a moment before turning back to the door where Mera had left from.

"Well, shit- He didn't- "

" **It'S FinE i'lL GEt Us sOMeWHerE.** "

"Error- You're offering up too much and I don't want you to-"

" **lUSt. I'lL Be OK. My maGIc dOEsn'T tiRE me.** "

Lust looked sceptical, but sighed, knowing that Error would be stubborn and do it anyway.

"Fine..."

"... Ok. So you have that sorted out. How will we be able to contact you when needed, then?"

Nightmare looked to Error for a moment and the glitch nodded. Nightmare hummed in turn and pulled his hand out of his pocket to show his phone.

" **I trust you have one. Cuz I have two**."

In a swift movement, he turned the phone around in his fingers, producing a card. He held the card out to Hawks. Hawks squinted his eyes for a moment in confusion, looking around for the phone that was there before shrugging. He reached out and took the card, seeing different sets of phone numbers with names. Nodding, Hawks looked back up and pocketed it.

"Alright. So what else do you think you'll be needing?"

"...To g-go home..." Compassion mumbled quietly against Lust's chest.

Lust's brows furrowed, his grip on his son tightening in the slightest as he pressed a kiss to his forehead. At that moment, Hawks felt a pang of sympathy for the younger. He could imagine getting removed but his home without a choice, but from his country? His world? He seemed young yet, and he hoped the kid fared off well at the end of all this.

"... Right. Well. We should be going, then. I'll show you out but after that,I'm going to need to leave. I still have work to do."

"So you're just gonna-"

" **Horror. We'll be fine. Lead the way, Birdman**."

Hawks nodded, opening the door and leading them down again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a while for Error to finish up adding all of their codes in, with all of the unfamiliar regulations and laws there were about certain things. But he was at least able to put the basic info in the fastest. Tweaking the codes about so they had a bit more of an inclusive manner towards non-humans and other, Error was able to prove that Compassion was his and Lust's child, along with proving that Nightmare and Cross were married. Of all of the group, Lust, Error, Cross and Nightmare were the furthest in their relationships. And of course, the annoying part, getting around the Sexes box since none of them had a set one-

"Error-?"

Error looked up from their window of codes, tilting their head to Lust.

" **WhAT's uP-**?"

"Honeybee, you've been working so hard all day. Please, can you take a little break and come cuddle with us?" Lust asked, gently readjusting the glitch's scarf.

"... **I haVe To gET tHIs biT doNE At lEaST. I'lL Be dONE In a FeW miNUtEs, oK?** "

"Promise?"

" **pROmiSe.** "

"Alright... I'm giving you ten minutes and then you're coming to cuddle whether you like it or not," Lust huffed, heading back out of the room.

Error smiled as they watched him go, looking up and out the window.

He had managed to land them in a nice but old house just outside the big city. It was very different from the houses the lot were used to, as the whole first floor was open and spacy. The second floor had two washrooms and an empty library. The roof was very wide, waning over the sides in a protective shade. Very oriental Japanese-esque. They definitely were not complaining, as it had more room than all of their houses (except Nightmare's but ya know he's loaded so shut up) But it was also completely empty- No beds, no blankets or food, no clothes that Error could have fitted for them all, no furniture.

So they had to rely on Nightmare and his portals to 'borrow' everything. Even managing to snag some comfort foods for Error and Cross since they knew they'd need it. Killer spent most of the time being a mother hen to his boyfriends and little brother, and while Cross appreciated his brother's concern, it was a bit smothering- Horror had settled down for a nap the second the first futon came into his vision. Dust and Blue had taken up cooking for the group while Dream and Ink set to fitting all the clothes they had thrifted (from their own pockets) for the group. Lust and Compassion opted to stay near Error to remind the hopeless skeleton that yes, he still needed to eat and yes, he still needed breaks.

While Error had been finishing up, everyone else, sans Nightmare and Dream, had fallen into a deep sleep. The destroyer turned to where his family lie, Compassion and Lust cuddled up next to each other since Compassion couldn't sleep alone. Their expression softened, a small chuckle escaping them. Looking back to their screen, they found all they really needed to do yet was just extra stuff like education and housing so they decided it could wait until tomorrow. They closed the floating window of codes, the only thing lighting the room yet being the soft glow of candlelight and the moon filtering through the skylights. They stood up quietly, walking over to Compassion's other side and laying down.

No, he didn't need to sleep either, but he would still lay here with his family, because he knows how nice it feels to lie by someone. With Lust on Compassion one side and Error on the other, they were effectively sandwiching him in a cuddle pile. Lust opened a socket when he heard Error settle down, smiling softly. He lifted a hand on rested it on their cheek, tracing his thumb over their tear marks slowly.

"Thank you, love," he said softly.

" **Of cOUrSe, BuNNy.** " Error replied, moving his hand to their lips and kissing it gently.

They were a lot calmer than Error had thought they would be. But then again, this isn't their first time stepping out of their multiverse. It was only their first time stepping in to one that wasn't parallel to their own. So while he was glad everyone wasn't a giant pile of nerves, he hoped they could either get back or settle here. He wouldn't mind either, really. They needed some spice in their life anyway. As they let their mind wander, they caught a glimpse of Nightmare laying down as well out of the corner of their eye. They smiled, watching Nightmare spoon Cross gently before he spaced out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midoriya hadn't slept.

He had tried, really he had. He laid their for hours staring up at the ceiling, trying to calm his overactive imagination. But he couldn't wipe that face from his mind.

This group of strangers had taken over his thoughts ever since he had decided to take a short cut home.

When his alarm clock rang, scaring him out of his trance, he nearly smashed it on instinct.

 _Damn Midoriya- Calm down- You probably won't even see them again anyway, it's nothing to dwell on_.

He got up from his bed, running a hand through his messy hair as he stared down at the ground. He only allowed himself to dwell on it for a moment longer, forcing himself to get up. He decided against eating breakfast today, slipping on his uniform and shoes immediately. He grabbed his back and keys, slipping them into his coat pocket before texting his mother he had left early. She wasn't awake yet, and wouldn't be for another hour so he didn't want to bother her.

Everything seemed like a blur around him, each step taking him to a different place as he was so lost. It wasn't even those bizarre strangers entirely either. Midoriya stared down at his feet while he walked, etching out each and every design on his sneakers.

Walking out of his house.

Walking down the street.

Walking past the shop.

Walking up to the Academy.

He stopped as he realized he was right in front of the school gates, biting his tongue. The doors wouldn't open until at least 7:00, so he had an hour to burn.

An hour of what?

 _Running. Let's go running. That always helps_.

Midoriya nodded to himself, turning on his heel and running down the street. He focused on the air being pumped in and out of his lungs. On the feeling of power running through his veins and making him practically buzz. One the burning feeling in his calves everytime his feet hit the pavement. On the wind blowing through his truly green hair and combing it out of his face.

The rare feeling of freedom it gave him.

Midoriya loved to run.

It gave him proper exercise but also gave him the illusion that everything around him would just disappear if he ran fast enough.

He didn't even know how long he had been running, the burning feeling in his muscles just fueling him to run even faster.

_Faster, Deku._

He nodded, the cool air against his face growing even colder as he slammed into someone. Immediate regret and embarrassment filled him, his face flushing bright red. He backed off of the person quickly and covered his face with his hands.

"A-ah! I'm so sorry- I-i should have been watching where I was going I-"

"It's ok Midoriya."

He froze, opening his eyes to see who it was he had run into. His face burned even brighter as he realized he had run into Shouchan-

"S-shouchan-! God- I'm so so sorry- A-are you ok-?"

"I'm fine. It's ok, it was an accident." Shoto brushed off, offering his hand to help Midoriya up, "Are _you_ ok? You were running really fast."

"Y-yeah-!" Deku assured as he grabbed his hand and hoisted himself up, "Sorry- Was just- I was waiting for the gates to open since I got here e-early-"

"Well, you ran long enough. Want to walk with me? Or would you rather run off again?"

"Oh- Uhm- I-if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to stick w-with you!"

Midoriya laughed nervously, dusting himself off and going to Shouto's side. Shouto nodded silently, gathering his bearings as well and beginning to walk back towards the school. Shouto gently took Midoriya's hand in his own, squeezing the other's in reassurance. He knew the greenette wouldn't talk about what was really bothering him unless given time, so he just decided to help the other feel as comfortable as possible in the meantime. 

Midoriya smiled up at him softly, his viridian eyes full of gratitude. Shouto smiled back, just a small one, and looked up as they approached the gates once more.

"We're almost there. You can drown out whatever's bothering you when with the day's work," he said, letting go and patting Midoriya's head gently.

"O-oh-! Okay-! Thank you, Shouchan!"

"DEKU-!!"


	3. Tested Time and Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fateful encounter with our favourite snarky rat-dog-bear and narcoleptic dad  
> And an unexpected turn of events that puts the group on edge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not good at writing fights and I apologise-  
> I'm trying my best- ;w;

"Error just eat it- Come on it's pudding, dimwit-" Lust sighed, holding out the spoon of the chocolate sweet.

Error scrunched their face in disgust, shaking his head. 

Lust was trying to get Error to eat three meals a day more regularly, after learning the other often went days without eating because he 'didn't need to'. So they were sitting on their futon, Compassion colouring in his colouring book next to them as everyone else was eating their breakfast. 

It had been three days since they got here, and the only thing worth mentioning was that they had gotten more things for the house. At this point, Error decided it was too much of a haggle to try and get any other house so he tweaked the codes again and now the house was owned under Nightmare's name (as the octopus had requested). Lust, Ink, and Dream spent some time learning more about their area, scoping out the noticeable changes, usual residents, and shops nearby. Killer and Dust had decided to set up a garden in the yard since Compassion had asked them over and over. They would never admit it but it was kind of relaxing to tend to, even if nothing was growing yet. 

Nightmare worked with Error, mostly legal stuff like paperwork and other. But also they would just mess around and try and make something since Nightmare was insistent on teaching Error how to bake. It was peaceful there. Almost like they hadn't been forcibly removed from their homes-

"Error if you eat this I won't bother you about eating until dinner," Lust sighed, offering the compromise if it meant Error would eat.

Error considered it. Having Lust not try and force-feed him for more than 6 hours? Sounds promising. More time to get things done. He finally sighed, begrudgingly opening his mouth for Lust. Lust grinned, gently placing the spoon in his mouth.

"Remember- Don't bite the spoon head off- Be gentle-"

Error nodded, forcing himself to hold his strength back as he gently closed his mouth around it. After a second, Lust pulled the spoon back to get him another scoop.

"Thank you, my daisy darling!~" Lust giggled.

" **sHUt uP-** "

" **Great to see you're actually eating. You better finish that quick, because I just got off the phone with that Yuuei place Hawks was talking about and we having a meeting in about a half-hour.** " Nightmare said, pocketing his phone and sitting down next to Cross. 

Cross perked up, setting his book down and looking to Nightmare with curious eyes.

"Wait really-?"

" **Yep. We're gonna be in training with a bunch of moody horny teenagers, yay.** "

"Nightmare- Give them some credit, they're more mature this generation-around," Cross said, rolling his eyes and gently hitting Nightmare's arm. 

"And their fashion sense is immaculate, not gonna lie," Lust smiled, remembering all of the fits he had seen from teens on Instagram.

**"Whatever. Still teenagers, still annoying."**

**"yOu mIGhT gROw To LIke SomE iF YOu TrY-"** Error put in.

" **We're getting off-topic. You,** " He pointed to Error, " **Need to finish eating and everyone else,** " he looked around at the rest of the group in the room, " **Needs** **to get dressed and ready to leave. 15 minutes tops since it's a bit of a walk and we can't just fly around like that if we want to keep a low profile**."

Blueberry shot up from his spot and hurried over to the rack of clothes, dragging Ink with him.

"Hurry up-! You take forever to get dressed so start now-" Blue said to them, huffing a bit.

Ink rolled their eyes with a smile, looking through the clothes to Blue's request. Killer and Cross followed, the two chatting about what the thought the school would be like since they'd never been to any type of prestigious academy before. Dust had picked up Horror from where he was napping since he didn't want to be left alone and walked over to join the others.

"Error, sweetheart, can I trust you to finish the rest without me? I need to shower, love," Lust said, putting the spoon back in the bowl.

" **oF cOuRSE. YoU mADe it FOr mE SO I WiLl fINisH iT.** "

"Thank yooou!~" 

Lust gave him a peck on the cheek as he also headed over to clothing rack. Nightmare leaned back on the futon, propping himself up with his tentacles. Luckily, he had already dressed himself and cleaned up. He was in an almost business casual kind of look with an e boy flair. You know the type, half-buttoned tucked shirt, spiky belt, spiky techwear sneakers. Error rose a brow at the fit, holding in his laughter. Nightmare heard the glitch snort, turning to him with a glare.

" **What.** "

' ** _For someone who hates teens so much, you sure take style inspo from them_** -' Error signed.

" **We're not friends anymore-** "

~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been lucky enough to get to the office before the bell rang for class to end. It had taken them a hot minute to actually figure out where they were going, but they did get there. What they had not expected was for the principal of the school to be a literal teddy bear. Granted, a teddy bear with a pretty sick looking scar, but a teddy bear nonetheless. They weren't terribly surprised, since back home they had all sorts of mammal monsters, it was just weird in a world where humans seem to be the main ones in charge-

"Ah. You must be our new students! Come, sit down," the bear said, "My name is Nedzu!" 

Nightmare, Error, and Dust elected to stand contrary to the rest of their group. As they just preferred it that way.

"Would you like to sit as well?"

" **No, we're fine. You said in our call that we'd be able to work around our age, since even we don't know how old we are.** "

"Right! I wanted to ask about that, by the way. Your youngest," Nezu motioned to Compassion, "By technical means should be able to attend here as well, with all of the education requirements you provided for me. His intelligence and observational skills are very much advanced for someone at his grade level! But he will need to be assigned a ghost to make sure he's doing ok in other aspects."

"That's not a problem," Lust said as he hugged Compassion gently, "I'd like to stay with him anyway."

"Great! That solves that. Now, the rest of you will have to take a bit more time with history courses, since that is the one thing that will impact your understanding of the training you will be doing. In fact, besides history and heroics, you all might just cruise through this school, haha," Nedzu said with a nod. 

The group nodded in understanding, Compassion was still a bit bored and uncomfortable with being quiet for so long. 

"I have a question," Dream piped up, "While we were walking through the school, I noticed the uniforms. I'm guessing those are mandatory, but I was wondering if we could maybe get both sets? Like- A male and female uniform- Since my gender fluctuates," they explained.

"Oh? That's no problem at all! Be sure to alert your teachers of this fact too, since some are a bit behind in that area. Let me know if anyone gives you trouble! Would anyone else like a change in uniform as well?" Nedzu asked with hi signature smile, sipping at his tea slowly. 

"Yes actually, I'd feel much more comfortable in a female uniform, please." Lust spoke.

"Ah, does your gender fluctuate as well?"

"No I just like skirts better than pants," Lust said with a shrug.

"Oh? Alright then."

"Uh- Same as Dream please-?" Cross asked, a small nervous smile on their face.

"Got it! Now, besides the issue of uniforms, is there anything else I would need to know before we go and meet the teachers?"

' _ **Well I have what you would call 'high functioning' autism, but I'm still going to need a bit of help**._' Error signed. 

"What type of help would you need?"

' ** _Mostly just reminders to use the bathroom and eat, since my body doesn't give me the indication itself. And also I may need to wear my defenders if a class got too loud._** ' he explained.

"But if one of us is in class with him, that wouldn't be as needed since we know how to help him," Lust said. 

"Ok! Anything else?"

Each of them collectively looked around at each other before shaking their heads when no one else spoke.

"Great! We have teachers to meet, then." Nedzu said with a smile, hopping down from his chair. 

The group all finally saw how fucking small he was compared to them- Compassion was taller than him by at least 2 and a half feet- He made his way over to the door and opened it, waiting for the others. They suddenly realized they hadn't even moved from their chairs and all quickly got up, heading out the door. Nightmare had to be careful not to accidentally whack the small principal with one of his tentacles since he was in one of his blind spots. Nedzu made his way to the front of the group, motioning for them to follow him down the halls. 

As they walked by, they caught the eyes of many rogue walking students and staff, who gave them wide eyes. Compassion felt really uncomfortable with all the stares, instead tugging on his dad's sleeve. Error looked down to his son, noticing his discomfort. With a soft expression, he stopped and knelt down to open his arms. Compassion wrapped his arms around his neck and Error lifted him up in his hold gently. Nedzu made his way down to another room, labelled 1-A and opened the door. This, of course, was when the group halted, unsure if they should follow him in or not. Nedzu walked in without a word, grinning to the teacher in the front.

"Ah, Aizawa! Could I borrow you for a moment, please? It won't be long."

The teacher, presumably named Aizawa, turned to Nedzu and nodded quietly.

"Momo is in charge until I get back. You know what you all are working on," he said, his voice low. 

Aizawa and Nezu walked back out of the classroom and Aizawa's eyes widened a fraction of an inch for a moment at the sight of the skeletons. 

"Good morning, Aizawa! These are our newest group of students! You won't have all of them, obviously, but I wanted to introduce you to them since you will be seeing each other more often." Nedzu explained.

"Will the rest be going to Kan, then?" Aizawa asked, messing with his scarf.

"Ah, you read my mind. We'll be going to him next! But, until then, why don't you introduce yourselves to your new teacher?" Nedzu said, turning to them expectantly. 

Nightmare nearly snorted, feeling like a kid again from when he used to go to school. Though he could never remember how long ago that was- Ink stepped forward first, nodding to Aizawa as they folded their hand behind their back.

"Hello, Mr Aizawa. I'm Ink Comyet. I hope we can get along." they greeted, dipping their head down slightly in respect. 

"I'm Dust Cua." Dust spoke, nodding to him as well.

"Hi, I'm Killer Abate and this is my little sibling Cross Joku."

" **I'm Nightmare Joku. And that's my sibling Dream Joku.** "

" **ErROr CQ. My sON, CoMpAsSIoN cUa.** " 

"I'm Compassion's other father, Lust Cua. Dust is my twin."

"I'm Blueberry Reiki. Call me Bue!"

"Name's Horror Facade. Nice to meet'cha."

Aizawa nodded at every greeting, trying to tether each name to a face in his memory so he wouldn't forget. Nedzu smiled up at him as he thought, the bear noticing his thought process. 

"Well, it's nice to meet you all as well. I'm called EraserHead. But my name is Aizawa. I trust I'll be seeing you all soon, then?" 

"Indeed!" Nedzu spook up, "They'll be attending within three days!"

This made the group snap to attention, as they had been unaware how soon they'd actually be attending. Aizawa looked a bit surprised as well since it was already the middle of the year. The sports festival was soon and while these strangers definitely looked like they could handle themselves, students needed certain requirements to qualify. Nonetheless, the little bear was the one in charge here, so Aizawa just shrugged and nodded.

"Very well then. I look forward to seeing some of you in class then."

"The same goes for you, teach." Horror said with a nod. 

"Thank you, Aizawa. You can go back to class now!"

Aizawa nodded, opening the door again to his classroom and closing it when he had entered. Nedzu started forward again with a clap of his hands. 

"Now! To meet 1-B's teacher!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After meeting all of the teachers they would be seeing, the group was most definitely ready to go home. Especially meeting that All Might one they had heard of at first. He was a bit bizarre, but they did admire his strength and spirit. What they had not expected though, was to be where they were now.

They were standing in the midst of a giant looking stadium, surrounded by huge walls and giving off an American Football field vibe but the stands were raised. Nedzu turned to them, giving them a semi-apologetic look. 

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but we've specifically been requested to do this by the president."

Everyone tensed, their guard up immediately. 

" **Requested to do what?** "

"A test of your strength. I can assure you that this is not a gladiator match, no fighting to the death. I would never do that to my students."

" ** _sTuDEnTS?_** " Error said, the realization he would be going against a group of teenagers unnerving him immensely. 

He was VERY bad at holding back, and he knew teenagers could get cocky and come at him with the intent to harm. He didn't want to do this- Not even a little bit-

"Yes. This is both a test of your strength and a test of their knowledge. It's like- A pop quiz of fighting!"

" **This is not a good fucking way to do it, cap- We are not good at holding back-** " Nightmare said, clenching his fists.

"Well then, this is also a sort of pre-test. See where you are so we can see what we need to work on with you," Nedzu said, "Not much time left to explain, as the students are already on their way. You'll be duelling class 1-A today! Since Aizawa told me they're ahead in their curriculum."

"You're not backing down on this, are you?" Ink stated more than asked.

"I'm afraid I can't, as it's an order from the Hero Commission's president and I'd like to stay under her radar as much as I can."

Blueberry put a comforting hand on Ink's shoulder, rubbing gently. While the others looked reluctant, no one said anything further. 

"I can, however, assure you that if it becomes too much or someone is seriously injured, the match will stop immediately."

"Better but not great," Killer mumbled. 

"Depends on their definition of serious harm," Horror scoffed.

"I wish you all good luck, but I have to go up to my booth now. Thank you for understanding!" 

" **Sure**." Nightmare sighed, holding Cross's hand gently. 

"If it gets too bad guys, you all know Nightmare could just portal us out," Dream assured them, looking to Nightmare. 

" **Yeah. Especially you, Compassion. If it gets too much for you to give, you come to me or call my name and I will get you out, ok?** "

"O-ok- Thank y-you Uncle Nightmare-"

" **Of course, kiddo.** "

They flinched at the sound of creaking doors, turning towards the sound. From the other side of the field, a giant gate opened up to reveal what they all assumed to be class 1-A. Aizawa was at the front, looking rather tired about the whole thing, really. Lust's eyes widened immediately as he recognized the green-haired kid from a few days ago, standing beside another taller kid with two-tone hair and a nasty scar on his left eye. Lust set Compassion down, holding the boy's hand as the group spread out into a uniform line, reluctant but ready to fight.

"Let's get this over with." Dust mumbled. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Midoriya almost couldn't believe his eyes.

It was them.

Those strangers that had taken over his thoughts for days. 

When Sensei Aizawa had told them they were going to have a test on they've learned, Midoriya thought that they'd maybe be fighting some clones or simulations or even one of the teachers. But when they got to the stadium and those gates opened, it seemed everyone hesitated. 

Sensei Aizawa walked forward, looking back when the class didn't follow him.

"Come on, then. This is your test. These people are here to fight you, and we will be monitoring your progress and ability to handle the situation. You will be graded on how fast you can diffuse the situation and how well you can harness your quirk to your advantage. Team up, work alone, or both. Whatever you need to do. You have 20 minutes." he explained. 

"Wait-!" Uraraka spoke up, "Sensei Aizawa sir who is that-? I don't think any of us have seen them before-?"

"Those, are our newest students. You will see them in school in three days, and some will be in our class."

"Then- Why are we fighting them? Shouldn't we like- give them a cool welcome party or something-?" Kirishima asked.

"They are being tested as well. We are testing you on your knowledge and them to see what they know. In a way, you are helping them learn."

"In that case- I guess I should try my best to help teach them-" Iida mumbled to himself. 

Midoriya was still stuck in his thoughts, staring at the one who had looked him in the eyes three days ago. To think these strangers would be going to school with him soon seemed almost surreal to him. 

"If that is all, I will head up to the booth with principal Nedzu and you can begin," Aizawa spoke, snapping from Midoriya out of his trance.

"Wait-! Uh- We don't- We don't need to injure them, do we-?" he spoke, gradually lowering his voice.

"No. Just hold out until time runs out."

"Ok..."

Aizawa waited a moment, looking out at his class to see if anyone else wanted to ask anything before nodding. He made his way over to the stairwell that led to the teacher's booth to join Nedzu. Kaachan, on Deku's left, scoffed as he looked at their new peers. He crossed his arms over his chest as he inspected each of them.

"These new guys look skilled. Guess we'll have them put their money where their mouth is," he hummed.

"Kaachan-" Deku mumbled, "Don't be rude-" 

"I'm not being rude. I'm just saying what I'm thinking."

"And then get you get your ass beat," Kirishima said, "You always talk big shit but can you really deliver?" he teased, intending to fire up the other.

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU FUCKING ROC-"

"Kaachan-! Focus-!"

Deku grabbed Kaachan's arm as the other went to swing at Kirishima. The students all snapped to attention when the squeak of the overhead speakers came to life and Nedzu tapped it to make sure it was on. 

" _Right! Welcome all and thank you for coming!_ " he started.

"Not like we had much choice," Shouto said quietly.

" _You have 20 minutes to duel each other, so make each minute count! There is no winner or loser, as this is simply a test! The only rules are no serious injuries such as losing a limb, implement, or purposely breaking a bone and no leaving the stadium! Please remember that all quirks, and magic, are allowed! Use whatever you need to get an advantage. It's class 1-A versus your new peers, so no ganging up on a teammate!_ " Nedzu explained. 

Midoriya took this time to thoroughly inspect each member of the 'New Kids'. From the ones that most caught his eye to the... Child-? They were going to fight a kid-? The smallest one looked no older than 7 what were they doing here-?

" _Ready? Begin!_ " 

A loud buzzer rang out, signalling the start of the match. The 'New Kids' didn't even move, seeming to be waiting for the others to make the first move. Not that they had to wait long, as Bakugo charged forward first, startling everyone out of their stupor. 

"Bakubro-! Hold on-!" Kirishima yelled. 

He growled for a moment, debating his options before quickly following after his reckless friend. Rolling his eyes, Shouto jogged behind them as to make sure the two didn't accidentally get themselves shot into the sun- The rest lagged back, following behind the three but not wanting to attack until they knew who would hit back first and how. 

Bakugo grinned as he ran forward, focusing on the tentacle one first since he seemed like someone he would fight regularly. He didn't ignore the fact that the rest of the group backed up when they noticed who was going for. The tentacle one smirked back, stepping forward calmly to meet him halfway. 

Bakugo jumped into the air, holding out his hands as they began to heat up in preparation for his blast. He didn't get the chance to however, as he felt something slimy and cold wrap around his waist. Before he could even process what was holding him, he was soaring through the air, headed towards the wall of the stadium. He blinked and tried to turn around so he could maybe slow himself down before he crashed.

"Katsuki-!!" Kirishima yelled, launching himself after his friend to hopefully get there before he crashed.

Asui was faster, launching her frog-like tongue out and grabbing the flying Bakugo before he could crash. She pulled him down to the ground again, him still landing harshly but not as bad as it could have been. A look ahead revealed that the darkest skeleton had extended and multiplied his tentacles, giving him lengthy and multitudinous tendrils to throw them around with or bash them with. Midoriya bit his lip in worry, shooting a look back at Shouji who had a similar quirk. Shouji only nodded, speeding up a bit so he could match this new monster.

Midoriya did a double-take as a huge pair of golden wings appeared from behind all of those tentacles. Luckily for him it was not the dark one, as a much lighter and brighter looking skeleton flew up into the air. They were holding a bow in their hands, the arrow drawn back as fierce yellow eyes searched the crowd of teenagers. Uraraka and Denki yelped as an arrow burrowed itself into the ground between them, jumping apart from each other. 

"Watch out f-for the arrows-!" Midoriya yelled.

"No shit, Deku-!" Mineta yelled back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They all look ridiculous." Dust sneered, standing back and watching as Dream and Nightmare schooled these kids.

"Well at least they look ready to right, while Nightmare over here came in looking like a TikTok eboy-" Blue snickered.

"Guys shush he'll hear you-" Lust said, despite laughing himself. 

Cross rolled their shoulders and neck, taking a deep breath and looking out at the kids. 

"Well, I'm gonna help them so asta la viesta, pinche idiotas," they grinned, launching themselves into the fray.

Cross noticed one of the kids, that closely resembled some sort of lion with that thick tail, had gotten behind Nightmare and was trying to strike him from behind. They laughed, charging forward and summoning a wave of white knives. Sending them forward, three of them managed to hit and pin the kid to the ground by their tail. White knives by themselves didn't hurt, in fact they were much like blue attacks: don't move and it doesn't hurt. But this kid did not get the memo, screaming out in pain every time they moved. Eventually, they gave up, instead trying to pull the knives out of their tail. As Cross was paying attention to this one kid, he had failed to noticed the first kid from before come flying towards him.

Before he knew what was happening, Cross saw a big flash of light accompanied by a boom. Their eyes widened almost comically, their SOUL shaking to the core. 

Too similar.

Way too similar. 

"Cross!!" Killer yelled, running forward to help his younger brother, "Shit- Cross don't panic now-!" 

Killer caught him as he was knocked backwards, both skeletons letting out a grunt from the impact. Killer fell backwards, but immediately got back up and pulled Cross with him.

"Come on-! We gotta get that bastard-"

Dream yelled out as one of their wings got hit by flying ice blades, dropping to the ground. They let out a grunt on impact, falling back to where Lust was standing with Compassion. Compassion stepped forward to help Dream, his eyes glowing a soft pink. Dream took Compassion's hand and let out a little sigh of relief as they felt their energy being replenished. 

"Thanks, Baby Bee-"

"O-of course Unty Dream!" 

Dream smiled to him as they flew off again, taking notice of the incredible amount of damage Nightmare was taking. They rolled their eyes, batting him in the head with one of their wings. Nightmare growled and looked up to them. 

"Go to Compassion! Ink will cover you!" 

" **Fine-!** " 

Nightmare growled again, retracting his tentacles to their normal size and number, melting into the ground and slinking over to Compassion. Ink ran forward in his place, brush out and ready to use. They side-stepped one of the kids who had tried to hit them in the face with what looked like a rock-hard fist, instead bashing him over the head with the blunt end of their brush. They took the opportunity to step upon his shoulder and leap up into the air, brush raised. They batted the pink tongue that shot in their direction, moving out of Dream's way as the flying skeleton took blast damage that was coming their way. 

They flew higher up until they were looking down on everyone and smirked. Raising their brush above their head, they brought it down at high speeds, all of the black ink on the end of the brushing flying off and growing in size. When the blobs of ink hit the ground and broke, they formed a giant dome over the group of skeletons. Dream had backed up just in time to be the light source inside the protective dome, with Cross, Killer and Dust outside of it to fight off the rest. Error also decided to step out of the dome, wanting to know how the fight was going and not wanting his close friends to do something stupid. 

Error sidestepped an incoming blow from a kid that appeared to have what looked like engine legs. Shooting him an unimpressed look, they punched him in the stomach and sent him flying back. 

"Iida-!" A kid with pink hair and little horns shouted.

"You little shit!! Hit back!!" the explosive kid from earlier shouted as they continued to fire at Dust.

"Alright," Dust said simply, summoning his gaster blaster.

The kid did a double-take before scrunching his face in anger.

"Coward!! Hit me yourself!!"

"No thanks."

Dust smirked as he fired it, the blaster tracking the kid's movements to hit him. Error rolled his eyes and pulled his strings from his sockets, sending them off towards the explosive kid. 

_This'll be fun_ , they thought to themselves. 

The kid cried out as strings wrapped themselves around his joints and neck, growling out in frustration. Error only winked at him, yanking his strings so they pulled the kid over to him. Closing his eyes, he allowed the data from this kid's codes travel through his strings into his mind.

" **kATsUki bAKUgo. NiCE nAMe**." they nodded.

Bakugo hissed at him, even as he hung helplessly in the grip of his strings.

" **YoU MiND hOLdINg tHeSE gUYs oFf fOR mE?** "

"FUCK YOU IM NOT DOING SHIT-" 

" **ThANKs.** "

Error brought their hands up, making Bakugo's arms raise above his head obediently. 

" **YOu'rE mY pUPpEt fOr NOw, KaTsUKi.** "

Was all he said before shooting his hands out. Bakugo raced forward with a yell of protest, going out and punching Deku in the face. Deku reared back in surprise, his eyes wide as he stared unbelievably. 

"Shit-! Fucking move, Deku-!" Bakugo yelled as he tried desperately to regain control of his body.

"Kaachan what are you doing?!" 

"THE FUCK DOES IT LOOK LIKE IM BEING POSSESSED-"

Bakugo grunted as he swung his leg around to kick Kirishima in the face as the other approached him.

"Hey-! Bakubro-!"

"It's not me-!"

"Kirishima take- Take out the glitchy one-! He's controlling Kaachan!"

Error smirked, clashing his hands together to make Bakugo do so as well. Bakugo looked at his hands in horror as they started to heat up and he tried even harder to regain control of himself. That was his quirk, not that bastard's!! 

"MOVE THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY-!" He yelled to everyone around him.

"Bakugo, don't-!" Denki yelled.

They were too late, the quirk setting off a massive explosion. Everyone reeled back from the impact, unaware Bakugo could even make an explosion so big. It proved too much for the boy as well. Bakugo's eyes drooped, his vision going in and out of focus as he collapsed to the ground. Error knew damn well not to seriously hurt the boy, and he didn't. He merely knocked him out temporarily. Taking a look at his codes, the boy wasn't even bleeding anywhere. He was fine. 

"Katsuki-!!" Midoriya yelled, running over to the boy's side, "Katsuki you idiot wake up-!

"Midoriya-!" Shouto yelled, "He'll be fine, you know he will, but I could use some help, please-!"

Midoriya looked up at the other boy, his face scrunching up as he tried to make a quick decision. Groaning in frustration, he smacked Katuski in the face before running over to Shouchan. 

"Shouchan-! What do you need-?"

"Use your quirk-! Principal Nedzu said anything to give us an advantage!"

"But you all could get hurt-!"

Shouto sighed, calming his ice for a brief moment so he could quickly wrap his arms around Midoriya.

"Midoriya you should know we all trust you not to hurt us. Besides, it's a test after all. This could help up your grades," Shouto lightly joked, hoping to encourage the boy.

He still looked hesitant, but he nodded nonetheless. 

"That big dome is in the way of us hitting them. Do you think you could take it out-?"

"Yeah... Yeah,I got it-"

Midoriya took a deep breath, walking towards the giant dome of black ink that seemed to steal all the light away. But from within, he could see the faint glow of golden wings, possibly from that archer from earlier. He bit his lip, closing his eyes and feeling the energy within his bones coarse through him. It grew and grew, bits of green electricity coming off of him in waves. After feeling enough of One For All collected and focus into his arm, Midoriya lept forward, zooming towards the giant black dome.

Luckily, his other classmates were distracting the other teammates, so he got by without interference. He rocketed through the air, wind whipping his hair wildly and making his squint his eyes to keep them from tearing up. He brought his fist back as much as he could before swinging it forward right into the dome. 

A blast of light came from the impact, bolts of electricity shooting over the dome and making it liquify. The now liquified ink showered over everyone, staining their clothes and faces. The one who created the dome, the one with the brush, looked up and around them in shock, clearly not having expected that. Midoriya grit his teeth as he clutched his now broken arm, trying to hold back tears. Everyone around him had snapped from their initial shock, and he felt the winds of his passing students as they all went for the one with tentacles. Midoriya bit his tongue, trying to move forward even as shots of pain went through his arm. 

While he was definitely not new to breaking his bones after using his quirk and his pain tolerance was slowly growing, it still fucking hurt- As things started to heat up, the other team slowing down but not stopping, the youngest looking one stepped forward. The one who had been holding them tried to stop them, standing down in front of them and shaking their head as the quickly whispered to them in what Midoriya assumed was Spanish- The youngest one only gave them a kiss on the cheek, letting go of their hands. The protector finally sighed and let go, reaching for their own weapon. 

The child walked forward, their hands folded in front of their chest and a scared look on their face. The tried not to be seen, but Midoriya watched their every move. The walked into the middle of the fray, closing their eyes and taking deep breaths, a light pink glow surrounding them and gradually getting brighter. But before anyone had time to react, their eyes opened and a sound barrier-shattering wave of light and noise expanded from the child until it was a giant dome housing the whole field. 

For a moment, everything stopped. 

There was no sound, no movement, no pain, no nothing.

Only pure, pink light.

Then it all came back in a tidal wave over stimulation. 

Class 1-A dropped to the ground like flies in a gas chamber, hit with the paralysis effect. Screams of frustration and pain arose from all of them, near deafening.

Or at least it felt like it.

The child and their team all took heavy breaths, trying to calm their skittish nerves as they stared at the now immobilized class. The tentacle one snickered at their expressions.

" **Nice**."

Dream stepped over to where Compassion stood with his legs shaking. The skeleton held their and out to their 'nephew', their eyes soft. Compassion could only let out a small sob of relief as he fell into their arms, their legs too weak to walk. Dream picked up the scared boy gently, bouncing him in a way of comfort.

"Compassion... Love, you know we could have handled it. You didn't have to do that."

"I-i'm s-sorry- I just- U-uncle Cr-cross got- Hurt- And- Y-your wings a-and uncle N-nightmare looked so angry I-i-"

"Shhhh. It's ok. It's not your fault, sunshine. None of this is your fault. You just did what you thought was right." Dream assured, carrying Compassion back over to Lust. 

"i-i g-guess..."

" _Aaaand Time-!_ "


	4. Internalize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group recoils from the fight  
> Midoriya discovers he can't let go of things as easily as he'd like  
> Chaos ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my shorter chapters happen to be written on days I'm not doing to hot and it shows smh

Error laid in bed that night, cradling the shaking Compassion to his chest as the other slept. Lust laid on the other side of him, cuddling close to both of them. Both had fallen asleep hours ago, ever since they had been able to calm Compassion down, but Error was still up. They always were. 

Compassion had been crushed when they left the school, and completely quiet. Now, Compassion was rarely quiet, and when he was he was either tired or extremely distressed. Lust himself would never forget the horrified face of his son when his magic first manifested, never forgot how he had shakily asked him "...a-am I a beast-?". He never deserved it. He didn't deserve to feel like that. 

Magical Girls and Superheros had always been the pinnacle of Compassion's fascination, having been his every poster on his wall, all over his lunchbox, backpack, and clothes for as long as Lust could remember. He loved them. But after Compassion had manifested his Paralysis Effect almost two years back, he had gotten rid of a lot of his superhero merchandise. He claimed he didn't deserve it, that he was nothing but the villain of the show. 

Lust twitched in his sleep, his brows furrowing as he clutched his son closer. Error noticed the movement, his eyes being drawn from the ceiling to the sleeping form of his partner. Their expression twitched into a frown and they leaned forward to kiss Lust on the forehead to reassure him. They could take a guess what the smaller was worrying about from his body language alone, and they gave a soft sigh at the thought. 

The reaction had been immediate too. 

Nedzu had been impressed by Compassion's power and control of said power at such a 'young age' that he had wanted him to use it more often in future training. 

They all said no all at once.

Not only did Compassion hate using it, but it drained him too much and too fast.

Even as they sat there discussing it, Compassion had lain asleep in Dream's arms. 

**_"Look, we get it, it's a possibility. But he doesn't want it and has other powers he can train to use better. Believe us we've spent years trying to help him realize it was ok, but in the end, it's up to him whether he wants to or not. And he doesn't, so we're not going to push him."_** Nightmare had explained.

"D-daddy-?" 

Error focused his attention once more, looking down at Compassion who had woken up.

" **WHaT's uP, sODa pOP?** " he said softly, laying a hand atop the other's skull.

"...N-nothing just- I- Can we- Maybe go out f-for walk-?" Compassion mumbled quietly.

" **oF cOUrSe, COmPaSsION** ," Error smiled, carefully sitting up as to not wake Lust, " **BUt iT'S aLmoSt SUNrIse sO We'LL leAVe A nOTe fOR wHEn PaPA wAKes Up, AlRIGht?** "

"Ok- Sorry..."

" **TheRE's NO nEeD tO BE soRRy, fOR anYThINg Ok? It'S Not YOUr FAult. YOu hAd NO ConTrOL anD tHaT's OK.** "

"But-"

" **nO BuTs. YOu'RE OK.** "

Error lifted his son from the futon as he stood up, shifting him in his arms so Compassion could wrap his arms around his neck. Compassion gave a small whine of doubt, but said nothing more, only burying his face in Error's shoulder. Error pressed a kiss to the back of his head, navigating his way across the floor and being careful not to step on anything littered about. Bringing up a code sheet, Error quickly printed his words onto the summoned sheet before materializing it. He set the note on Lust's shoes so he would be sure to see it first before heading towards the door. He grabbed Compassion's jacket off of the clothes rack and sung it over the boy. While it wasn't getting colder yet, it would still get a bit chilly at night and in the early morning. Unlike Error, Compassion was more sensitive to weather changes so he made sure to hold him close. 

Compassion eventually got a bit uncomfortable, so he gently tapped Error's back three times to let him know that he wanted to be set down. Error complied, but Compassion still held his hand gently.

" **YoU ALrIGht nOW?** "

"Y-yeah- Thank you, daddy-"

" **Of cOURse, ComPAsSioN.** "

Compassion smiled at Error as the two walked down the sidewalk. It was quiet, with only a few people out and about and even fewer open signs blinking about. Error squinted at the labels, trying to mentally translate them through code. Japanese was never his strong suit, but he was trying so he could be of a bit more use since Nightmare had nearly appointed himself the spokesperson of their little group. Don't get him wrong, Nightmare had more knowledge in the state of affairs in a more professional setting than any of them. But he was the one to hold the most useful resources, the access to world codes which he could manipulate to their benefit. But he couldn't change the codes if he didn't understand them. Thus, he was learning Japanese. 

"Daddy-? Are you ok-?"

Compassion once again broke his train of trailing thoughts and he snapped back to attention. They shook their head to regain focus and looked back down to Compassion with a smile. 

" **SOrRy sUgAR PlUm, I'M ok. JuST tHInKiNG aBOuT WhAT sWEets We sHOUld HiT Up wHilE We'RE oUT,** " they said, half lying.

"Wh- Really-?! Can- Can we get some bubble tea? Please?! Bubble tea always tastes good in the morning-!" Compassion said, his face brightening immediately.

Error laughed and nodded, squeezing Compassion's hand as the two crossed the street. 

" **BuBbLE Tea iT IS.** "

Compassion cheered, a skip in his step as they went along. Error smiled, happy that he was able to pick up the other's mood a bit. He'd try his damn best to keep it that way while they were still home. After all, they had two more days until they started school, and their school uniforms had already been sent out to them. Error could say he was surprised by just how fast and seriously this was being taken, though he was still wary about the school itself. It seemed a bit idealistic about its views on villains and heroes, and as what they would classify as an 'ex-villain' himself, he had the right to be wary. I mean come on, who could say they destroyed UNIVERSES with a proud face?

A sociopath, probably.

And Error was not that.

They're getting off track again-

_What were we thinking about-?_ he asked himself.

"Daddy look! A boba shop!" Compassion squealed excitedly.

Right-

" **ALriGht, sUNsHinE, KeEP HoLd oF mY HaND whILe wE'RE in THeRe, ok?** "

"Ok! I trust you, daddy!"

Error smiled again, opening the door to the shop and letting Compassion in first. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"-and that brings that section to a close. Midoriya, are you listening?"

Midoriya jerked as his name was called and he turned away from the window he had been staring out of, looking Shouchan in the face.

"Ah- Sorry- I-i was just-"

"Midoriya if you're this distracted I think we should take a break for now. We can study more later." Shouto said with a sigh.

Midoriya bit his lip, looking down out of shame as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He knew he shouldn't be focusing on it too much, but the feeling of having no feeling at all still haunted him. He couldn't feel the blood running down his face, couldn't feel the crack of his bones as they shifted, couldn't feel his lungs pushing air in and out of his lungs. He couldn't feel himself breathing. 

He jerked even more violently as he was snapped out of his thoughts again, this time to Shouto taking his hands within his much larger ones. Midoriya looked up at him with confusion even as he took a shaky breath.

"Take a deep breath. You can feel my hands in yours, yes?"

"Y-yeah b-but-"

"You can feel my skin against yours. You can feel that warmth. You're right here, and you can feel it."

"Todo- S-shouto I-"

"Izuku. Breathe."

Midoriya hesitated for a moment before sighing and trying to match Shouto's breathing. The other boy went slow, squeezing his hands gently to remind him he still had the feeling in them. 

Why did it scare him so much?

Why had it left such an imprint on him?

He was going to be a hero, he shouldn't let something like this affect him so badly.

_Maybe it was the fear it'd never wear off?_

He stopped at that thought, his breathing quickening again.

_That we'd never get to feel a hug, feel a kiss, feel ourselves again. A fate worse than death_.

_How awful it would be to have to sit back and observe while everyone around you can feel everything, even the unpleasant things_.

He barely registered that he was being hugged until there was a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in. His body shook as he tried to work up a proper reaction, his hands shakily reaching out. He let out a choked sigh as he wrapped his arms around Shouto in response. As he brought himself back to the present, he realized Shouto was humming softly. Not speaking or whispering, just letting the silence be their friend. He waited patiently for Midoriya's breathing to calm, tracing phantom patterns on his back. 

"S-sorry-" Midoriya whispered.

"It's alright. It's not something to get over in a day. Take your time."

Midoriya wanted to protest and push him away, he didn't want to be a burden to him, but he was so tired. He could only close his eyes and go limp in Shouto' grip. He nodded absentmindedly to whatever the taller was saying, his vision starting to blur. 

When had he gotten so tired?

He could feel his body get heavier and heavier, and he tried to relax. 

He tried to open his eyes but found it too chore inducing.

Instead, he let his mind wander abroad, going off to the future he so dearly wished for. To become the Pro Hero he'd always wished and to help the people who needed it. He didn't care too much for the fame, as he'd much rather stay under the radar, but he knew it came with the job. He wondered what it'd be like to have to disguise himself to keep out of the eye of nosey reporters, as he'd never had to do it before. He wondered how differently people would treat him if he were famous. He wondered if he could inspire young kids and have them look up to him and be a beacon in their lives just as All Might was to him. 

Slowly he began to drift off, his breathing slowing and soft snores coming from him. 

Shouto smiled softly, shifting the boy in his arms carefully so he could lift him. He could tell from the moment he had come over that Midoriya was not doing well, in fact, if Midoriya had been paying attention he would have heard Todoroki purposely speaking off-topic. He could see in the boy's eyes he was hurting, but he didn't want to push him into talking about it. He hadn't known him as long as Katsuki had, but he was his partner too. And he knew that letting Midoriya speak in his own time was the best way. 

Carefully, Shouto made his way over to Midoriya's bed and set him down. He was slow in his movements, as to not wake him from his slumber. It took a hot minute, but eventually, he had managed to get Midoriya under the covers. He had no intention to try and change him since that would be weird as shit. He did, however, hover a moment longer over Midoriya's form, admiring the peace that lay in his expression as he slept. Whenever Shouto saw him while he was awake, he always looked either determined, stressed, happy, or angry. So seeing just a look of total relaxation on his energetic partner's face was something nice for a change. 

He liked it.

Impulsively, he leaned forward, brushing bits of Midoriya's bangs out of his face. Shouto traced his thumb over Midoriya's cheek gently, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach he got as he did so. Impulsively, he gave a quick peck to the boy's forehead. He stood up from the side of the bed, gathering his books and grabbing his backpack. He also tidied up Midorya's books a bit just to be nice. As he made his way out of the smaller's room, he waved goodbye to Inko who was reading on the couch. She smiled and waved goodbye back, with a quick "be safe!". 

When the door behind him shut, he let out a breath, his own turmoil arising again. 

Sure, he had handled it a bit better, but he was not about to deny that the paralysis had scared him too. He was just much better at keeping it to himself. It didn't matter anyway. 

He walked down the sidewalk, his eyes staring straight ahead as he had learned. He wasn't entirely paying attention though, his mind wandering back to Midoriya's panic attack. He didn't know why, but seeing someone he cared about as deeply as he cared about Midoriya so vulnerable and scared, awakened a sort of primal urge to protect him. To help him. To do _something_.

He hadn't planned any of what he had done, acting on instinct and instinct alone. Rationality had been thrown out the window as he held the shaking boy in his arms and hummed the lullaby he had heard as a child.

He didn't understand how he had felt, as panic attacks or anxiety attacks looked very different for him than they did for Midoriya. But he had at least been able to understand that he was scared, that he needed help. And that was something he was proud of himself for, since reading other's reactions and emotions had always been a bit harder for him. He supposed it was partly his ridiculous father's fault, who had never been one to properly teach him the full range of emotions. 

Typical.

As he walked, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. Not that he didn't get that lot, with him being the son of the Number 2 Pro Hero and all, but this was different. He rose his gaze from the sidewalk, looking around to see who or what it was. Normally the person who would be staring at him would look away when he looked up, but this one was persistent so he came to a stop. Giving himself a moment to completely survey his surroundings, his eyes finally landed on his 'stalker'. He nearly rolled his eyes as he saw Katsuki, making his way over to him. Katsuki patted the spot on the bench next to him and Shouto complied. 

"So, were you sitting here waiting for me or did you happen to spot me by chance?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and leaned back in his spot, folding his hands behind his head.

"Chance. I was actually waiting for Izuku since he goes on a run about this time."

"Well, he's not going to today. He was feeling a bit unwell after we finished studying so he's sleeping now."

"You were over at his house? Didn't think your old man would let you even talk about another boy."

"I didn't think you would be soft enough to care for his 'rival' but here we are," Shouto said nonchalantly, pushing his hair out of his face.

"WH- WHY YOU- SHOTO-"

"Shhh. Don't want anyone else to hear about the great Katsuki Bakugo having feelings, do we~"

"I'LL FUCKING BEAT YOUR ASS DONT TEST ME ICYHOT-" 

"But then Midoriya will cry."

That made Bakugo hesitate. He growled lowly as he lowered his fists, sinking back into his seat. As much as he hated to admit it, he cared about that little nerd, much more than you would think. So he supposed he could handle this flirt's teasing for a bit just to keep that damn Deku happy.

"Fuck you."

"Already have."

"I'm leaving-"

"Bye, sweetheart~" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"... 私は私の家から学校に歩いた- (I walked from my house to the school)" Lust slowly repeated, looking down at his guide.

"学校は大きいです (The school is big.)" Dust said next, being the faster learner of the group and helping them all along.

"...学校は誇りに思っています。(The school is proud.)"

"No, that's proud. 大きい (Big.)"

"大きい. 学校は大きいです." 

"Good. You're getting it," Dust smiled to his twin, leaning back in his chair.

"Hhhhh- Japanese is hard-" Lust whined, rolling his shoulders and trying to lean his chair back. 

"Of course it is. But right now, you just need to learn the basics and essentials in case you run into someone here who doesn't speak English at all. We're lucky the teachers need to know both. And think of it this way, you'll come out knowing 5 languages."

"Ok but you know I'm going to forgot and mix some shit up- I already do it with Spanish and Portuguese-"

"Ok, I do too but like," Dust shrugged, "Gotta do it anyway. Además, usted es el que decidió venir a mí para aprender. (Besides, you're the one who decided to come to me to learn.)"

"Ok escucha, cállate perra- (Ok listen, shut up bitch-)"

"Se necesita una perra para conocer a una perra. (It takes a bitch to know a bitch.)"

"Estoy siendo intimidado- (I'm being bullied-)"

"If you want me to bully you I will," Dust retorted with a smirk.

"Podes tentar, mas eu dou cabo de ti. (You can try, but I'll kick your ass.)" Lust said, switching to Portuguese. 

"Não batam um no outro enquanto os miúdos estão na sala. (Don't hit each other while the kids are in the room.)" Cross spoke up from their place on the couch, not looking up from their book.

"Ele é que começou! (He started it!)"Lust said, pointing a finger at Dust.

"Bem, estou a acabar. (Well, I'm ending it.)"

" **Amore, ti ho mai detto che saresti stato un ottimo genitore?** ( **Love, have I ever told you you'd be a great parent?** )" Nightmare asked, looking up from where he was standing in the kitchen.

Cross flushed bright purple, bring their book up to cover their face as they shook their head bashfully. Both Lust and Dust looked over to Nightmare with questioning expression and he simply smirked at them, flipping the dough in his hands. Dust sighed and shook his head.

"See this is why we don't do nice things."

"Shut the hell your mouth-" 

"Anyways! この夏、体育祭が開催されます！ (This summer, a sports festival will be held!)" 

"Wait really-"

"Yeah. Which is why you need to cram learning Japanese so you can actually speak to people."

"Uuuuugh but Spanish is so much easier to speeeeeak-"

"Then shit dawg go off on a latin meltdown for all I care and I'll laugh as the residents look at you like you've lost your mind." Dust said, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes at his twin.

Lust perked up when he heard the front door open and nearly leapt out of his chair as he noticed Error and Copmassion coming through the door. Compassion grinned as well, letting go of Error's hand and running over to Lust with an excited squeal. Lust laughed as he caught his son in his arms and twirled him around in a hug. Error smiled, setting down the bags they had collected from shopping and walking over to the two. Lust set Compassion down so he could wrap his lover in a hug as well, kissing him on the cheek.

"I missed you too so much- God it was unbearable without you, honey pumpkin-" Lust said dramatically.

" **sORrY, hAHa. I sEE yOu'VE suRELy sUrVIVed THouGh. WE gOT yOU sOme caramEl sWEetS."**

"Gasp! Ruru you didn't have to!" Lust said with a touched expression.

"But we wanted to! We wanted to surprise you, Papa!" Compassion grinned, reaching into his bag.

He jumped up and down in his spot excitedly as he held out the box of treats to Lust.

"Open it! Open it! They're fancy!"

Lust giggled as he took the box gently from his son's hands. Offering a smile to both of them, he opened the box up to look inside. He gasped, his eyes widening at the adorable little sweets. Each one was a dollop of chocolate decorated to look like a tiny whale, with little shots of caramel coming from the top to look like water. Lust couldn't keep the smile off of his face from how adorable they all were. 

"You guys... You're so sweet- I don't deserve you-"

"Hey look Lust it's you-" Dust snorted.

"Dust E. Cua I swear to fucking God I will melt this caramel and put it in your shoes-"

"Papa-! That's a bad word-!" Compassion said with a gasp, wagging his finger at his father.

"And Uncle Dust, that was mean! Say sorry!"

"Awe shit dawg- My bad- I'm sorry, Lusty-poo," Dust said with chuckle, folding his hands behind his head.

Error rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around Lust's shoulders as the other started to go off on a Latin Tangent. He restricted the other's wildly flailing arms and picked him up, carrying him over to their futon. Compassion stayed behind, glaring at Dust and tapping his foot in a disappointed fashion. His face held a pout, his eyes narrowed almost comically as he tried to look upset. Dust could only chuckle at the smaller's efforts, leaning forward and rubbing the top of the other's skull gently.

"Whaaat? Wasn't good enough?"

"It's not nice to antagro-... Antoga-... Anta..."

" **Antagonize.** "

"Right! It's not nice to An-a-tag-o-nize Papa like that!" Compassion said.

" **That's right, Dust. You shouldn't be teasing your twin like that when you look MUCH worse** ," Nightmare grinned.

"UNCLE NIGHTMARE-!!"


	5. Childish Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes to school  
> The school is supportive (for the most part)  
> Kirishima helps a fellow tran with the recoil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Mineta and it rlly shows in my work <3

"Ok so let me get this straight, it's こんにちは、私の名前は欲望Cuaです。 私はクラス1-Bにいます。(Hi, my name is Lust Cua. I'm in Class 1-B.)" Lust said, having practised this constantly. 

"Yup. That's the one you need! Now, go on," Blue encouraged, helping fix Dust's collar as they all got ready to leave.

"私たちのIEPが述べているように、私の息子は私と一緒に来ます。 (As our IEP States, my son will come with me.)" He went on, making sure to pronounce each word carefully and correctly. 

"Good! You're set with that. You practised the basics, right?" Blue asked, grinning and letting Dut help him as well.

"Yes- Why am I the only one struggling with it this isn't fair-"

"It's ok Papa! I don't know Japanese either-!" Compassion said, hoping to reassure his father.

"Thank you sweetheart- You'll learn too," Lust said with a smile, leaning down and hugging his son.

It was their fateful first day and the group was preparing to leave the house. They all knew it would be much faster to just fly over there, but since they were considered students now, it was better to be safe than sorry- So they were going to take the train. The house was buzzing with activity, with Nightmare and Cross getting everyone's food, Error making sure everyone had their supplies, Lust helping with sizing and adjusting their uniforms, Dust and Blueberry reviewing their practised greetings, and Dream making sure everyone was cleaned up. Horror, Killer, Ink and Compassion were just making sure everyone stayed calm. Which was deeply appreciated, especially from Lust, since he was absolutely terrified for Compassion. 

I mean come on- Sure Compassion could probably outsmart everyone in the school but he was still mentally the youngest. He was beyond grateful he was allowed to be his shadow because he would be dammed if he could focus without him. Lust bit his lip at the thought, smoothing out his skirt and checking his messenger bag once again. He let out a yelp of surprise as he felt hands on his shoulders, turning around to face Error with a relieved sigh.

"Jesucristo you scared me mi amor-"

" **SoRRy. ArE yOU ALrIGhT? yOU're vEry tENsE.** " they asked, rubbing his shoulders comfortingly.

"Yeah- Sorry just- A bit nervous for our baby boy, ya know, haha-"

**"I kNOw yOU'lL pROtECt hiM. I'm MOrE wORrIeD AbOUt You RIgHT nOW."**

"Well, there's no need, hun. I'm gonna be ok. Especially since I have you around," Lust smiled, poking Error's nose gently.

Error smiled back, leaning down and giving Lust a quick peck before hugging him. 

" **I'lL pROteCT yOU tOo. I pROmISe.** "

"I know, sweetheart. I know. I love you."

" **I LOvE YoU tOO.** "

"Ew, affection? Nasty," Horror ridiculed, sticking his tongue out in mock disgust.

"Awwwe, I'm sorry Horror, did you want a kith too?" Lust teased, puckering his lips.

"EW STOP -" 

"Awwwe, Horror you could have just said something!" Blue joined in, walking over and wrapping his arms around the beefy skeleton.

"HELP IM BEING ATTACKED-" He screeched, trying to push Blue away.

Compassion brightened up, squealing and running over to join in on the hug.

"Hug pile!!" He yelled.

"Awe shit, little man decreed it we're doing a hug pile now," Dust said, walking over and flopping onto Horror and making him topple over onto the ground.

"What's happening-" Ink asked as they adjusted their jeans.

Dream rolled her eyes and dragged them over as the two flopped onto Horror as well. Horror at this point had stopped screeching like a mad man and just accepted his fate. Killer laid down next to the pile, propping himself up on his elbows and smirking at Horror.

"Feeling the love, pumpkin head?"

"Shut the hell your mouth."

Nightmare and Cross finally emerged from the kitchen, Nightmare holding eight of the eleven lunch bags while Cross carried the three others. They took one look at the pile of bodies on the floor before looking up to Error who had opted out and sighing. 

" **You all are hopeless.** "

" **DoN'T lOoK AT Me.** "

"Come on you bumbling beehive, we have your lunches. Do I need to call you each out like a mother?" Cross said, rolling their eyes.

"Well I mean, love you two, but you and Nightmare practically act like the parents of us all-" Killer said with a shrug.

"Hey-" Dream interjected with a pout.

" **Love you, Beetle, but you're a baby too.** "

"You're not my twin anymore-"

"LUNCHES-" Cross said, interrupting before an argument could brew, "Come and get them, we put your names on them."

Error shrugged, walking over and taking the box with his name on it from one of Nightmare's tentacles. Compassion followed, getting up from the pile before they all rolled off and skipping over to where Cross held his box out as well. He took it with a giggle, smiling at the little flowers he had drawn on it the night prior. While everyone else took their boxes, Error grabbed the keys and slung his backpack over his shoulder with a huff. He looked down at his watch and tapped his foot impatiently. 

" **wE gOTtA gO if WE'rE gONNa catCh tHE tRaIN. HuRRy uP."**

"Oh right- Shit- I need my pronoun pin-" Dream said, setting her box down temporarily and running over to retrieve said pin.

Compassion grabbed his yellow backpack off the ground, slinging it over his shoulders and skipping happily over to Error. Error smiled to him, kneeling so he could fix the little bow on his son's headband. 

" **YoU NeRVoUS?** "

"Nope! I get to go with you and Papa so I'm really excited!"

" **GoOD to HEaR sODa PoP. ReMEmbEr tHis ThOUgh."**

"Hm?"

Error smiled, holding up a hand. He pinched his middle and ring finger to his palm and kept his thumb, pointer and pinky finger up.

" **I lOVe YoU.** "

"Haha-! I love you too, Daddy-!" Compassion giggled, bounding forward and wrapping Error up in a hug.

"I shouldn't even say anything- I really shouldn't-" Horror grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was spacing out again. 

Midoriya stared out the window as he sat at his usual desk in class, his head propped up on his arm. He knew he should be paying attention since one of the most important events of the season was coming up, but he just couldn't focus. He stared blankly, his eyes drooping as he was extremely tired. Even with how long he had slept, he hadn't slept well. Absentmindedly, his hand went up to his chest and he traced his hand over it, almost as if to reassure himself. He didn't even look up when his name was called. 

"-ku. OI- DEKU-!" 

Midoriya jerked out of his trance as hands slammed down on his desk, turning to face Bakugo who was looking at him with an unreadable expression. 

"You nerd. What are you doing staring out the window like that? You look like shit." 

"Sorry, Kaachan..." He said, his voice lower and softer than usual, "Just... Tired-" 

He gave a small smile up to him, noticing how the boy's brow rose in surprise.

"You're not ok you damn nerd. Your voice is only that soft when you're upset." He stated bluntly, looking back to Todoroki on instinct. 

Midoriya shook his head, not being able to find the proper words to explain himself.

'いいわ (Fine)' he signed in JSL.

Bakugo growled lowly, clearly not believing the bullshit excuse, but decided not to push it since Deku didn't look like he would be able to answer. He'd ask him about it later. 

"Tch. Fine then. You're coming to my place after school, tell your mom."

'助けが必要なのか? (You need help?)' he signed. 

"No. Just tell her, damn Deku. It's a surprise."

Midoriya smiled at that, nodding slowly and taking out his phone to text his mother. He made it quick since he heard the classroom door open and could hear the distinct pattern of Sensei Aizawa's boots. After hitting send, he pocketed his phone and tried his best to reign in his attention again as he looked up to the front of the room. Everyone around him had already settled in their seats, Bakugo fidgeting with the aids in his ears so he could hear better. 

Sensei Aizawa looked over his class tiredly, looking to each of them as he mentally counted them all. He nodded to himself once he was sure everyone was present and then stepped up to the podium. 

"Good morning. Glad to see you all present. I hope you've eaten before you came. Now, the new students we were talking about earlier in the week will be arriving today, as I'm sure you've noticed the five extra seats in the back. Those are not freebies for your belongings." He said, his voice remaining monotone, "When they arrive, I'm sure all of you will be as respectful with them as you would anyone else. If I find any trouble that has stirred with them, I will address it, but I hold high expectations for you."

He looked out at them, checking to make sure no one had any questions before nodding his head. He looked over to the door, nearly chuckling as he noticed the shadows of bodies behind the glass. He walked over to it, opening it up before they had a chance to knock.

"I'm assuming you're our new batch of students?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dream retracted her hand just as the door opened up, backing up in surprise. 

"I'm assuming you're our new batch of students?" a deep and low voice said.

She connected the voice to that of Shouta Aizawa whom they all had met a few days prior. She was the one with the best memory of the group, so she nodded before remembering she had to speak.

"Oh-! Yeah- Sorry- We apologise for being late. We had a bit of trouble finding the classroom-"

"I'll let it slid because it's your first day. Come in."

Aizawa moved out of the way and motioned them inside. Dream nodded to him in thanks, her and Dust being the first two to enter. Error followed behind with Nightmare in tow. Nightmare held Cross's hand gently as the smaller was a bit anxious yet. 

"Just stand in the front for a moment, so you can introduce yourselves. Most of our students speak English pretty well, but I'll translate for you for the few that don't."

"Uh- Ok-" Dream said, unaware of the reason why anxiety was clawing at her chest. 

Nightmare stood next to her with Cross still glued to his side, nudging her gently and giving a small smile in encouragement. She smiled back thankfully, folding her hands in front of her and looking out at the group of students. She recognised some of them, the fight from a few days prior was still fresh in her mind. But they all looked different from then, so it was a bit difficult. She wondered if they remembered her at all. She wouldn't be surprised if they didn't, though. She looked really different from then as well.

"You can introduce yourselves whenever you're ready," Aizawa said, standing behind his desk.

Nightmare sighed, knowing he would be going first from a quick look around at his posse. Each of them looked either hesitant or ready to topple over from stress. So, he stepped forward, not letting go of Cross's hand and waving to them all.

" **Hi. I'm Nightmare Joku, nice to meet you all in a casual setting. Sorry about that fight. Hope we can at least tolerate each other's existences. You all look pretty cool.** "

Nightmare gave Aizawa a second to finish translating before nodding and stepping back. He tried not to focus too much on the intense stare he was getting from the blond-haired kid he had thrown back then, shooting him a casual finger gun. Dust stepped up next, adjusting scarf/hood on his head and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Heya. Dust Cua. Hope you all can cut me some slack if I don't understand much, I'm trying my best to learn how things work here. An interesting fact about me, I like to make candles." Dust shrugged, waiting for a moment before stepping back as well. 

"Uhm- Hello! My name is Dream Joku! Nightmare is my twin. I hope we can all get along! Like Nightmare said, sorry about that fight- None of us really wanted to but it was the only way we could stay here," she said with an awkward smile, "It was really interesting to see all of you, though!"

She could tell from the stares that they were either analyzing her or just gawking, and both made her uncomfortable. She stepped back once Aizawa finished speaking, messing with the hem of her skirt. Error stepped up next, his hands picking at the threads in his scarf and pulling them from the seams. They held a hand out in greeting, before speaking lowly.

_**'Error CQ. I don't speak much.'**_ was all he signed.

"Most of the kids here can't read ASL all too well, but there are a few," Aizawa spoke up, looking to Bakugo and Midoriya.

**_'Cool.'_ **

Cross took a deep breath as they stepped forward, still adamant about holding on to Nightmare's hand. They eventually realized they wouldn't be able to sign that way, and they were definitely in no position to speak. So, reluctantly, they let go of his hand. 

'My name is Cross Joku. I switch between ASL and speaking for medical reasons. I hope we can get along.' he signed.

"Anything else you would like to add?"

"Ah- Well- I guess- I'm genderfluid so uhm- My pronouns change a lot- I have this pin to let people know which ones to use at the moment, though- Just to let you know-" Dream explained shakily, that anxiety snaking up her spine again.

"Thank you for letting me know," Aizawa said, giving her a tiny encouraging smile, "You five can take your seats in the back, but if they need to be adjusted, let me know."

The five gave him a respectful dip of the head before heading to the back of the classroom. It was still a bit tense, as the stares did not let up completely, but they tried their best to shake it off. As they took a seat and set down their belongings, Aizawa stepped up to the podium again.

"Alright, now that you've met your new peers, we can get to work. Please take out your notes from yesterday."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Genderfluid..." Bakugo repeated to himself as he sat in his place.

"Hm-? Did you say something Bakubro-?" Kirishima asked, looking up from his notebook.

"Hey Kiri, you're more knowledgable with this stuff, what's genderfluid-?"

"Is this about Dream-?" Kiri asked, smiling and leaning back in his chair.

"Why the fuck does that matter? Just answer the damn question-"

"Haha- Well, as she said, her pronouns change a lot since her gender doesn't stay in one place. Like mine! But her's constantly changes versus mine which just did a whole 180 haha. Why are you asking?"

"Hm... None of your damn business."

"Ya know, you could just talk to her since you seem like you want to," Kiri suggested with a shrug, looking back down to his work.

"Hell no-! Don't want to get chucked into a wall again by her twin."

"He said he was sorry-"

"It still fucking hurt!"

"Would you two shut up?" Denki spoke up, rolling his eyes in annoyance and fiddling with his fidget toy uncomfortably.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Flash?" Bakugo ridiculed. 

"Nothing. I just- Need less stimulants so I can focus on my work-" he half-lied.

"Sorry, Denks-" Kirishima said with an apologetic smile, gently taking the other's hand.

"Uhm- Excuse me-" 

The group all turned at the sound of a new voice, looking up to meet the eyes of a new skeleton. They looked much like the ones in their class, but this one had purple heart-shaped eyes. And a quick inspection showed this one was a lot more put together as well. They rose a brow and nodded past them towards the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you're kind of blocking the way to the exit of the library. Could you please move?"

"Whoops-! Sorry, there friend-!" Kirishima said, pushing everyone out of the way quickly, "Here ya go-!"

"Thank you, and if you don't mind me asking, what're your names-? I've seen your faces before but I didn't know who you were. You might remember me from the stadium."

"Oh! You were there too-? I didn't see you- I'm Eijirou Kirishima!" 

"Ah, I was hanging back with my son most of the time. I'm Lust Cua. You have my twin in your class." he introduced with a smile.

"Woow- You have an interesting name- I'm Hanta Sero!"

"Thank you! Nice to meet you two! Who're you guys?" Lust said cheerily, turning to the remaining two.

"Well, I'm Denki Kaminari, and that's Katsuki Bakugo," Denki said, pointing to himself then Bakugo.

"Nice to meet you two as well. As much as I would love to stay and chat, I need to get back to my class. Thank you for your time!" Lust bid, waving goodbye as he made his way out the doors.

Bakugo watched him go, not having spoken a word. He gave a small huff as the doors closed, sinking further down in his seat. Kirishima swore as he looked up at the clock and started gathering up his stuff.

"It's almost Lunch-! I didn't even realize how long we were working- We gotta pack up for today-!" 

"Awwwe- Damn it. I thought I could at least finish the 5th chapter before we left-" Denki said with a groan.

"Well, maybe if you read a little faster then that wouldn't be an issue!" Sero offered, half-teasing.

"Shut up! I can't help iiiit-"

"You guys go on ahead without me," Bakugo spoke, "I'll catch up."

"Are you sure-? I can wait a bit after the bell if you need-"

"I didn't fucking stutter, Shark tooth. Go on ahead."

"Okay! Okay-" Kirishima said, rolling his eyes with a smile and picking up his backpack. 

The other three gathered their belongings and headed over to the desk, setting their books down before leaving out the exit. They chattered up a storm as they went, Sero and Denki hounding Kirishima to tell them about his new friend. Bakugo watched them leave as well before revelling in the silence they left behind. With practically no one else there except the librarians, Bakugo got some time to think to himself. Not that he couldn't anywhere else, it's just he liked the ambience of the library the best. 

It calmed him.

The soft sound of creaking as people placed and took books from the rickety old shelves, the sound of heels scraping against the carpet, the sound of pages turning softly as they were checked for blemishes, even the faint sound of birdsong from the outside. All sounds Bakugo were grateful to be able to hear. He took his sweet time enjoying the environment, almost forgetting why he had stayed behind in the first place. His eyes trailed down again as he pulled out his phone, checking the time. He scoffed as he noticed that he wasn't there yet, since he was never late. But he seemed pretty unwell today, so Bakugo pocketed his phone and waited patiently. 

As he waited, his mind trailed back to the new kids in his class inevitably. It honestly wouldn't occupy his mind so much if they all hadn't been beaten to a pulp by the lot a few days before, but they had, so they were. He was thinking the most about the glitchy one, Error. They all had interesting names, by the way. But Error had been one to literally control his movements and use his quirk against him. No one had ever done that to him before. He didn't know if that deserved his fear or his respect. He didn't get to dwell on it that much, though, since he noticed the shadow of a figure walking towards him. He looked up and gave a small smile as he noticed Deku walking over, waving to him lazily. He was getting better with not reacting so harshly towards him since Deku had expressed his discomfort with it to him. 

"Hey, Deku. You get lost or something?"

"Sorry, Kaachan- Shouto wanted my help with something really quick-"

"It's fine you nerd. Is he coming too?"

"Yeah- He said he was going to grab his lunch bag before coming over-"

"Well, then I'll go grab ours. You want the usual or something new?"

"U-usual, please-"

"Sure. I'll be back in ten."

"Thank you, Kaachan-"

"Don't mention it. You just pick the book we're gonna read and sit back."

Deku nodded, sitting down in one of the beanbags and setting his bookbag down in front of him. Bakugo got up from his place and walked out into the hallway to retrieve said food. He reached up behind his ear, pulling the buds out and putting them in his pocket so he could focus on what he needed. He waved to people he recognised in the hallway, his mind not entirely there. As he walked by, he noticed that kid from earlier, Dream, walking away from the lunchroom with a box of what he assumed was her lunch. He rose an eyebrow as she ducked into the girl's bathroom, wondering what she was doing in there. He looked up just in time to notice another skeleton, whom he didn't recognise, follow her in. They nearly got their long brown scarf caught in the door, though-

He shook his head, walking into the lunchroom with a shrug of his shoulders.

'It's not my problem.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dream, love, look at me," Ink said softly, holding their girlfriend's face in their hands, "You're ok. It's alright. You don't need to be so strong all the time, you know that? It's ok to cry."

Dream could only nod with a sniff, curling into herself as she sat on the floor of the bathroom stall. She didn't know why, but with all the kids gathered in the lunchroom like that, she wasn't able to handle it. There was just too many people and she hated the staring. While she was lucky enough not to have any clear indicators on her body, she couldn't change her voice. And she was terrified of being singled out. 

"I-i'm so-rry-" she sniffled.

"Oh, sweetheart-" Ink said, their brows furrowing.

They gently pulled her into a loving hug, wrapping their arms around her. She sniffed again, hugging them back and letting them rock them back and forth. While she couldn't figure out why her dysphoria was suddenly biting her in the ass so much, she was thankful to have such an amazing and supportive partner. 

"Do you need anything? I can get you some sweets or pop. Or we could just stay here. Whatever you want to do, I'll stay with you."

"N-no- Ink- You sh-should-"

"Dream, it's alright. I literally know no one here and the only people I know, we live with. I'm fine with staying here with my beautiful girlfriend if it makes her feel better."

"... T-thank you-"

"Of course, Angel. I love you."

"I-i love you t-too..."

"Do you wanna talk about what happened? It's ok if not, though. I'm fine with whatever you want."

"...I-... I just kind of- Broke-? I-i don't really know- I was o-ok when we left but- I k-kind realize I never got t-to actually go to a p-public school so it's- a little uncomfortable- I don't know- My a-anxiety's acting up-"

"That's valid and completely understandable. And yeah, it's gonna take a bit to get used to, love. But me, Nightmare, and Blue are all here for you, ok? Everyone is. So if I have to hide all your sweets to get you to tell me what's up, so be it."

"H-hey-! Don't touch my s-starbursts you asshole-"

"Well then you better come to me when you're hurting, ma'am, or else," Ink playfully threatened.

"Uuuugh- Fine- Just- You're an asshole-"

"I know. It's one of my specialities."

"But I still love you-"

"You better. Otherwise, I'm doing all of this under a fallacy."

Dream rolled her eyes, turning her head to give Ink a kiss on the cheek to shut them up. She nuzzled into their hold, letting out a content sigh as she started to calm down from her panic high. It never really lasted long anyway, she just needed a moment to let everything out at once before she was ok again. Ink smiled as well, starting to hum 'The Less I Know The Better' since they knew that Dream liked that song and it helped her calm down. Dream picked up on it, smiling and bobbing her head gently to the tune as her mood started to stabilize again.

They stayed like that, just wrapped up in each other's holds and staying quiet for a while. They had been lucky enough that no one really seemed to come in, leaving them with a bit more privacy. When Ink was sure that Dream was ok and able to speak up again, they gently pulled back so they could look her in the eyes with a soft smile.

"You alright now, Angel?"

"Yeah, thank you, love," she said with a small giggle, leaning up to give Ink a quick kiss. 

"Of course. Now, you wanna stay in here and eat lunch or do you think we should head back out with the others? Because, not to worry you, but you did just kind of leave without warning or saying anything so I'm like 40% sure Nightmare's pretty worried-" 

"Oh, shit- I did, didn't I- Yeah I'm alright to go back- God I didn't mean to just leave-"

"Dream, Dream, love, it's ok. It's understandable why you had to, and I'm positive Nightmare will be understanding. I mean honestly, I'm surprised and proud that Cross hasn't broken too. You're both doing so well and I'm proud."

"Oh shush you big pushover- Let's just go-" Dream said, standing up and hiding her growing blush. 

Ink grinned, standing up as well and grabbing Dream's hands.

"Righty then-! Off we go," they said, leading Dream away from the mirrors and out the door again. 

Dream tried her best not to look in the mirror, since she knew she'd stay there for longer than she needed just picking out her flaws. She instead let Ink lead her, taking a deep breath as she heard the commotion from the lunchroom again. She took a moment to ground herself, reminding herself that she indeed was safe and ok before following Ink into the Cafeteria. Her eyes stayed trained on Ink's scarf, trusting them to lead her. 

" **Dream! There you are.** "

Dream looked up at the sound of her brother's voice, shooting him a nervous smile and waving to him. He rose a brow and tilted his head in silent question. She shook her head, waving off his concerns. Ink led her over to Nightmare's unoccupied side, the two sitting down next to him. Dream immediately rolled her eyes, raising a hand and picking a bit of food from Nightmare's slime. 

"You're such a messy eater-"

" **Like you're any better-** "

"Anyways, how's class going for you all?" Dream asked, shifting the attention off of her and looking over to the rest of her friends.

"Pretty good, actually. Lots of staring, sure but I'm sure we're pretty weird to them haha- The teacher's pretty cool though. He's a big chad lad called Sensei Kan. He's dope," Lust said with a snicker, holding Compassion in his lap as the smaller ate. 

"I like Mr Kan! He gave me a lollipop for being good in class!" 

"Wait hold on I didn't know this- Give me that-"

"No!! He gave it to meeee!!" Compassion hissed, holding on tight to the lollipop as Lust tried to wrestle it from his hands. 

Error rolled his eyes at the two, reaching between them and plucking the lollipop from their grips. He stuck it in one of his code portals and made the portal disapate into nothing. Lust and Compassion both looked at him like he had just kicked their puppy.

" **No MOrE loLLiPOp.** "

"DAD-!!"

"ERROR-!!"

~~~~ ** _*TRIGGER WARNING: TRANSPHOBIA*_** ~~~~

"And that's why I think the Girl's room should have a glass door," Mineta finished with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest proudly.

"Literally no one agrees with you, dunce head, why do you even try," Jirou said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Ok but did you listen to what I said? We want to know what goes on in there! We have a right to know-!"

"I don't know who 'we' are but I definitely don't want to be a creep like you," Kirishima said, looking to Mineta with a raised brow as he bit into his sandwich, "Just leave the girls alone, Mineta."

"Well, if not that, then to at least catch a tranny trying to sneak in there," Mineta huffed, his eyes lowering to a scowl.

That caught everyone's attention. Kirishima's heart near god stopped in his chest as he turned to look at Mineta with wide eyes.

"What- What did you say-?"

"Ya know, trannies. Dudes trying to sneak into the girl's room to prey on the other girls. Those guys always ruin a girl's perfect image."

"What the hell, Mineta! You can't just say stupid shit like that! You asshole!" Jirou yelled, "For all you know, you could have trans friends!"

"Oh, believe me, I'd be able to tell. I mean come on, Jirou, do you not see them? With their wide and broad shoulders, stubble and obvious bulge? It's kind of hard not to spot one." Mineta scoffed, shaking his head, "Like when that new kid said it was 'genderfluid' or whatever, you could obviously tell it was a guy from its voice. Stupid idiots think someone like me who specializes in girls wouldn't be able to tell a real one from a fake."

Kiri's head shot over to Mina, who sat only a few seats down. His heart sunk as he noticed tears in her eyes, biting his lip anxiously. God, he wanted to punch this tiny bully in the face so bad. But he knew Mina needed someone right now. So, he set down his sandwich and stood up from his seat with a clap of his hands. 

"Right! Awful discussion, really, I absolutely hated it. But I just remembered that me and Mina need to talk to Sensei about our project for Friday, so we'll be heading out now. See ya, guys!" 

"Awe, come on Kiri, this is something I thought we could agree on-"

"Goodbye Mineta," Kiri said, gently taking Mina's hand and pulling her out of the lunchroom.

Once the two were out of earshot of the lunchroom, Mina broke down, her knees buckling from under her as she started to sob. Kirishima stopped immediately, dropping down to a crouch and holding her gently. She held his hands like her life depended on them, trying to calm herself enough to speak. Kirishima waited patiently, rubbing her back and holding her so she wouldn't fall over. Honestly, the two were so much closer with each other because they both needed someone who understood them. And while it wasn't exactly what they had in mind, being trans was something they could both understand. So from the day they had come out to each other back in middle school, they had formed a sort of Trans Sibling Protection Pact and just stuck up for each other whenever they could. Though Mina felt bad, since mostly it was Kirishima standing up for and looking out for her. Not saying she wasn't glad that Kirishima was so confident in himself, just that she wished she was as strong as he was. Which was funny to Kirishima, since he had always been the one to admire her on the contrary. 

"Hey, Mina-? You wanna just stay here or head over to Sensei-? Anything's ok with me, though, beauticool," Kirishima said, making sure to keep his voice soft.

It took Mina a minute, as she tried to sort out her thoughts. She was really hesitant to speak though, afraid of what she may hear. She only let out another choked sob, burying her head in Kirishima's shoulder as she reached to pull out her phone. Kirishima noticed, helping her free it from the straps on her bag. She let out a small sound of thanks, unlocking her phone and pointing to Aizawa's contact. Kirishima gave a small smile of reassurance, nodding in understanding. He waited another minute before slowly helping Mina up to her feet. She clutched his arms as she stood, following his lead down the hall and over to class 1-A. 

It took a while, since Mina kept stumbling over herself trying to hurry. She felt bad that she was taking up this much of Kirishima's time, but Kirishima only waited patiently, his encouraging smile never leaving his face. When they finally got up to the door, Kiri knocked before opening it slowly and poking his head in.

"Aizawa-Sensei-? Sorry if we're bothering you but Mina needs some help-"

"Don't apologise. Come in." Aizawa's voice answered as he stood from his desk.

Kiri nodded, fully opening the door and leading Mina inside. Aizawa's face softened as he saw Mina's tear-stained expression, walking over and opening his arms to her. She gave a small beat of hesitance before letting go of Kirishima and bounding into his arms. Aizawa wrapped her up in a hug, gently raking his hand through her hair to calm her before looking up to Kirishima.

"Can I ask what happened?"

Kirishima rolled his eyes, a scowl surfacing as he nodded.

"Mineta was being his usual pervy self again and going on about his usual bullshit, and out of nowhere started talking total shit about trans people. Trans girls specifically and the new kid, Dream. Luckily, she didn't hear him, but Mina did. So I got her out of there and brought her to you before he could say anything else."

"Thank you for doing so, Kirishima. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, since he wasn't really talking about trans dudes, but I'm sure angry at him."

Aizawa gave a low hum, looking down at Mina and petting her hair again.

"Mina? How are you feeling right now, girlie?" he asked softly.

"...S-scared-" she whispered.

"That's understandable, kiddo. But I'm glad that you chose to come to me. I'm here for you, ok? We don't have to talk if you don't want."

"Uhm- Mina-? Do you want me to stay, or would you like me to go?" Kiri asked.

Mina thought for a moment, looking back at Kirishima from her place and biting her tongue. Eventually, though, she nodded her head slowly.

"Y-yeah- I- Can- you please g-go-? Thank y-you for bringing m-me here-"

"Of course! Always glad to look out for the most beauticool trans sister ever!" Kirishima grinned, holding a thumbs up," And alright! Well, I'm gonna go make sure Momo hasn't beaten Mineta to a pulp, haha. Bye!" 

Kirishima waved goodbye to his teacher and friend, finger gunning them as he walked backwards out the door. He shut it behind him and set his hands in his pockets. His smile fell away as he was finally alone, looking down at the ground with concentration. He didn't want to believe that Mineta was transphobic. He couldn't. Come on, the guy had seen him without his shirt so many times, anyone would notice those big scars on his chest! Did Mineta only have a problem with trans girls then-? Kiri sighed, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. 

He really didn't want to believe it, but this was Mineta they were talking about. When it came to girls, he was very blunt about his opinions. In that case, he'd probably need to be a little more careful with helping keep Mina safe then. If Mineta found out she was trans before she was ready to tell, the word would spread like wildfire and Kiri would never be able to leave Mina alone without fear. And then there's the new kid. 

Dream.

Kirishima had no doubt she would be able to take care of herself if that fight in the stadium told him anything. But he still couldn't help but worry. It was part of his curse of kindness, he guessed. She looked much older than most of them, too, so she probably had a bit more experience with transphobes than he did. Even with that thought, what Mineta had said about her still worried him. He didn't want him to pick on her for just telling them something about herself. 

So many thoughts, so little time.

He broke from his trance and shot his head up as he heard the bell ring, signalling the end of lunch. His eyes widened and he started to run towards the lunchroom. 

He hadn't even finished his lunch yet-!


	6. Worth the Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets tested and make friends  
> Midoriya gets reassured by his datemates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're gonna pretend that these characters already have well-established relationships by the time the sports festival rolls up and that I totally 100% planned this out-
> 
> Like- 
> 
> The attack on USJ actually DOES cancel the festival for a bit so the kids have even more time to charge up their quirks- 
> 
> More fun for me to write, honestly, I'm not complaining. 
> 
> I am going to have so much fun with this, my GOD-

"Practical testing-?" Dust asked with disbelief. 

"Yes. As you weren't here in the first week, you couldn't take the entrance exam or test alongside your other students. So, we're going to hold them now, and your peers will be observing and learning from your moves."

The day was warm, with class 1-A lined up outside on the side of the school. All in their training uniforms, of course, which the team had been reluctant to put on. Honestly, it wasn't even that they were impractical, just- Ugly- The only one who at least looked good in it was Error since it matched his colour scheme. But aside from that, having been a few days with this class, they had learned a few things about them. And they could see themselves getting rather frustrated with these kids really fast- Not all of them of course since some seemed promising.

Aizawa moved forward, his hands in his pockets as he nodded to the set markers on the ground. The skeletons all turned to it, Nightmare raising a brow at the skid marks blurring the chalk. 

"The first thing will be a ball throw. As long as you can launch the ball into the air, I don't care how you do it. You decide who goes in what order since we have no prior grades to sort you by."

Without anything else being said, Error stepped up first. Not out of pride or cockiness, just on impulse. Sure he wanted to do well, but he didn't want to do too well. He had no idea how battles, with pros, really worked here yet. Doing too well might lead him right back to the feds for all he knew. His peers had fought admirably, but most of them weren't taking it seriously until they realized they were immobilized. So he had a feeling that these kids weren't trained their whole lives like this. He looked over to Aizawa, who held his usual drained expression before leaning down and picking up the ball.

He figured he'd only rely on his strength for this one, as he wasn't really one for flashy shows unless absolutely needed. So, he reeled his arm back, taking a step back and preparing to throw. 

For a moment, they imagined the ball in their hand as their fear. Everything they hated and that bubbled up deep inside them to haunt their sleep. It would be a relief to let it all go. Throw it all away. 

He took a deep breath and launched that motherfucker into the air at full speed.

He took notice of the blast of air the trajectory caused, yet their feet stay rooted in their place. Looking up, he tracked the ball with his eyes before following it as it dropped to the ground. 

" **nOT toO bAD.** "

"Not too bad at all. 730 metres. You beat Bakugo's score." Aizawa hummed, holding up his phone to show the results. 

Error looked back to the other kids, raising a brow at their shocked expressions and muttering. He could guess this Bakugo kid was held to high standards then, by how they reacted. He looked back to the rest of his posse, smirking at how Dust looked ready to fall asleep. The other hadn't been able to sleep well for the past few days, and Error pitied him for it. They shrugged, walking back over to the rest of his group and standing beside Nightmare. 

"Next."

Nightmare walked up to the plate next, grabbing the ball off the ground with one of his tentacles and tossing it between two of them. He kept his hands crossed across his chest, only looking over to where he wanted the ball to land. Since his magic was for more up close and fist-to-fist combat so to say, he wasn't the best at long range throwing. But he could at least get it a decent amount. 

He didn't put too much power into the swing, just extending his tentacle a bit so he could throw it a bit farther. While the ball didn't go too high, it did go far.

"700 metres. 5 metres shy of Bakugo's record."

Nightmare nodded, going back to stand by Cross as Dream stepped up next. 

They sighed, knowing they wouldn't get it very far with just their arms. But unlike Nightmare, their tendrils weren't something that was physically a part of their being, they needed to summon them. So they'd make due. Dream sighed, picking up the ball and not giving themselves too much of a window of hesitance. 

"350 metres. Not bad." Aizawa said.

"456 metres," for Dust.

"530 metres," For Cross.

Even as they went along, their peers stayed quiet for the most part. Which surprised Error, since he was sure they would have been rowdy. He either misjudged them or was misreading the situation, both of which were possible. They looked over to where Aizawa stood and waited for his next instructions. This seemed like it would take a bit-

~~~~~~~~~~~

"How the hell do these guys manage-?" Kirishima asked, watching their new batch of students go through their tests.

It's not even the fact that they were going through it so easily and carelessly that puzzled him, no. It was the fact that he couldn't figure out what their quirks were. From what he had seen, these guys had an assortment of tricks, aces, and skills up their sleeves. And he had been so focused on trying to figure out their quirks that he hadn't had time to notice any of their other skills. Like Error's seemingly endless stamina, which he had thought was his quirk until the skeleton pulled god knows how much strings from the empty sockets of his eyes. Or Cross's bones or hand-to-hand combat skills. Or Dream's archery and fire. Or Dust's keen eye and environmental advantage. Even Nightmare's mysterious way of melting into nothing had gone unnoticed by the hardening student.

"What do you mean-?" Denki asked.

"I mean look at them-! They have so many- So many things to work with I can't tell what their quirks are! Are they like that Nomu thing All Might fought a while ago-?"

"I-i don't think so, Kirishima-" Midoriya said, looking up from his notebook that he had been furiously scribbling into, "The Nomu's main flaw was their inability to think for themselves, and Joku-kun and friends are very aware of what they are doing. But I do agree that they seem a bit overpowered to have a single quirk- I don't see how they could though-"

Kirishima sighed with a nervous smile as Midoriya began to mutter to himself, staring intently in the direction that Cross was standing for their balance test. 

"Oi- Midoriya-"

All three kids turned in surprise as they heard Bakugo's voice come from behind them, Midoriya's expression displaying his nervousness. He waved shyly to Bakugo as the other stared at him with his usual cryptic expression, his face brightening with blush.

"H-hi Kaachan-"

Bakugo stared at him for a moment longer before letting out a low hum and walking over to Shouto instead. Midoriya's expression shifted to one of hurt for a moment and he bit his lip gently as he watched Bakugo walk off. He shook his head to clear it though, looking back over to the course and shuffling forward so he could see better. He didn't have time to focus on that right now. The festival was coming up and from the looks of it, these guys would be participating. His only hope of getting an upper hand on them was to watch what he could and analyze their fighting styles. He wanted to win, after all.

But from the sidelines, both Shouto and Bakugo watched Deku carefully, observing his mood and reactions. They shared a look before turning back to watch their peers. 

"And time," Aizawa said, pressing the stop on his stopwatch.

Cross dropped the weights in his hands, rolling his neck and stretching his shoulders out. Their balance was unmatched by any of their friends, and they hoped that would spread to his class as well. Midoriya and Cross caught eyes for a moment, and Midoriya blinked in surprise at how intense the shy skeleton's deep red eyes were. They seemed a bit like him, actually. A bit anxious on the outside with a dreaded hero complex rooted deep inside. 

"Good. You've all done exceptionally well. Now, I would like to try something, personally, with you." Aizawa continued.

"Ha-? Sensei never tried anything personally with us on our first week?" Sero commented.

"Sensei also has entrance exam scores for all of us, Sero. Maybe this is a bit of a test for them?" Kirishima shrugged, raking his hand through his hair.

"Shhh-!" Uraraka scolded, tilting her head curiously. 

The group watched as Error was called forward, the glitching skeleton looking to Aizawa curiously. Aizawa nodded to him, holding out a hand.

"I want you to hit me. Without using your hands."

"W-wha-?-"

"Shhh-! Shut up, Denki-!"

" **oK.** " Error said simply, folding his arms behind his back.

For a moment, there was silence. Neither Aizawa nor Error moved. The two seemed to be having a staredown. Error rose a brow when his teacher's eyes went red, his hair standing up as if it had a life of its own. He inspected his teacher, nodding to themself as they seemed to be confirming something in their head. Then, to everyone's amazement a thick, black, bone shot out of the ground and bashed Mr Aizawa in the chin. Aizawa stumbled for a moment but regained his footing quickly, letting out a low hum as he nodded in understanding.

"So. They're not quirks. I can't erase them." Aizawa observed, "Did you all see that? Your new peers aren't using quirks for combat. You'll need to take a new approach and set of thinking if you want to try and beat them."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, sounds of disbelief and confusion rousing from a majority of the crowd as they stared to their fellow peers with awe. Mineta rushed forward first, jumping up and down in front of Nightmare and flailing his arms wildly.

"W-what are you?!! Some kind of super being?!! How?!!"

Nightmare's brows furrowed in annoyance, his tentacles sharpening to a point. He raised them threateningly towards Mineta and scowled.

" **Come anywhere near me with those little hands of yours again and I'll show you just what I'm made of.** "

"W-wait-! J-Joku-kun-! Don't- Just- What are you guys-?" Midoriya spoke up quickly, hurrying to the front.

"Back where we're from, we're called Monsters. And depending on your morals, you can see as allies that can help you and just want to live or enemies who threaten your very existence. Either way, please back off, you're invading our space." Dust said, shooing the students back.

Nightmare twitched suddenly, an impulse tickling in the back of his mind like an itch he couldn't reach. He normally would ignore impulses like this, but it seemed harmless enough in his mind. He wanted to show off a little bit anyway. Looking out to his peers who had been taken over by seemingly feverish excitement, he held a hand up and spoke.

" **Look, everyone,** " Nightmare started, getting everyone's attention with his tone, " **If you're so curious to know, then I offer a chance, right now. Think of a negative emotion. Any of them. Fear, anger, sadness, apathy, anxiety. Think of how much it hurts, how much it pains you. Imagine that emotions in a physical form. Now, I'm asking you to do this because that form is real. And I can take it from you."**

Nightmare stepped forward, up behind Cross who stay completely still. They trusted Nightmare with their life, and he knew what he was about to do anyway so they weren't afraid. Nightmare put his hand on Cross's head, focusing on the feeling of anxiety and drawing it out. And just to show he wasn't shitting around, he pulled it right from Cross' head, out into the open for all to see. 

" **This is what roots itself deep inside a mind.** "

A little deep orange mist, looking very much like a worm of smoke, writhed around between Nightmare's pinched fingers. It struggled, lashing around much like a snake. Nightmare only smirked, crushing it in his palm and letting that tingling feel of power snake up his spine. He opened his hand again for the class to see, revealing no more of the little being.

"... So... You can just pull out those negative emotions from our heads... And destroy them?" Midoriya asked slowly. 

" **Exactly. And if you think that was something we set up beforehand, I can do it to one of you or all of you to prove it.** "

"All of us-? Wouldn't that take like- A long time though?" Mina asked, tilting her head.

" **Not at all. I've done this so many times before that it's almost a reflex at this point. Now, I need a solid yes or no. The only side effect is you're gonna feel lightheaded for a second and you'll see what everyone else manifests their emotion into.** "

"Yes-!!" Denki said with excitement. 

"Hold on," Aizawa spoke up, "Don't take one from me. If I spot one instance of foul play or malicious intent I will restrain you."

" **Understood. Now, any other objections?** "

"Uhm- Not from me, please-" Toru spoke up, waving her arm to get Nightmare's attention. 

"Me either," Sato agreed.

" **Got it. For the rest of you. Imagine that emotion I was talking about before. Make sure you absolutely focus on it, because if you don't then I may take out more than one unintentionally.** "

Nightmare gave everyone who was participating a moment to focus, looking back to Cross to make sure they were ok. After Cross gave an affirming nod and a small smile, Nightmare looked back to his peers. 

" **I'm going to draw them out now. I need you to stay perfectly still**."

He took notice of how stiff everyone got, reaching his hands out towards all of them. He shut his eye, allowing his physical form to expand a bit to prepare to take in all of this new power. He opened up his eye when he felt he had a firm grasp on their feelings, grinning with accomplishment. He clenched his open hand into a fist, making everyone jolt with surprise at the feeling. He reeled his arm back as fast as he could, intending to rip out the forms as fast as possible. 

There they all were.

There were angry red beasts, covered with coarse sand that swayed in spirals, There were liquid forms that looked ready to drop, there were big black tornados that swirled around with the intention of consuming whatever was in its path and so much more. 

The class stood in absolute awe, most of them backing up after realizing what had been in their head had just been brought to life.

" **Watch.** "

Nightmare readjusted his stance, placing a foot out beside him as he opened his arms up. The beasts all looked to him, recognizing the inviting feeling of their energy. Within a few seconds, they had all been absorbed into Nightmare's form, making his body start to glitch out and go into offset at the unfamiliar code of emotions. They were almost too much for him, since he had never taken in that much unfamiliar code before. But after a moment of adjusting to the overwhelming amount of power he had just gained, he stood up straight, putting his hands in his pockets. 

" **And that is one of the most draining yet empowering things I could ever do.** "

"Damn... That was... So cool but also fucking scary-" Jirou piped up.

"Do you know which beast was who's?" Tokoyami asked, stepping forward.

" **I would have if I focused a bit more. But I've never had to take in that much foreign material before, so I had to put more energy into safely absorbing it all. Now, those feelings will be distributed evenly and quickly in my body, like a virus but a good one.** "

"I have to admit, that was very impressive. It did not look like an easy feat," Aizawa put in, uncrossing his arms, "Are you able to do that without restraint or is there a limit to it?"

" **I have a time limit. I can only do that big of consumption about twice every 48 hours. But I have no limit on how much I can hold, only on how much and often I can take.** "

"Interesting."

" **And as much as I would love to sit here and do a full question and answer panel, please give me a moment.** "

Nightmare held up a hand, turning back towards Error. Error got the message before Nightmare could even do anything, walking up to his friend and holding out a hand. Nightmare gave a smirk at how quickly Error responded, reaching out and taking Error's hand in response. Error reeled immediately, nearly falling over from the weight of the power. Nightmare gave him a moment before transferring the rest over to his friend and letting out a sigh as a weight was lifted off of his own shoulders. When he finished, he turned back to Aizawa with a tired expression and nodded towards the door.

" **Unless we got something else to do, I really suggest we go inside. I think I might actually need a break after that-"**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Error-!" 

Error flinched as his name was called, turning around to face Kirishima who had called them. Kirishima slowed his pace as he finally caught up to Error, catching his breath. After a moment, Kiri looked up again with a grin and pointed back to a table.

"The gang and I were wondering if you wanted to sit with us! You can bring your friends if you'd like!"

" **wHY?** "

"Well, we think you're really cool, and we wanna get to know you and give you a chance to feel welcomed! Sorry for not doing it sooner, though- We were dealing with something-"

Error rose a brow at that, looking around the lunchroom at the gawking students. Come on, was he really that interesting? Sure he was new and he hadn't seen any other students with an appearance like his, but there were students who looked much weirder than he. Grow up. He eventually shrugged, shifting his lunch in his hands to point in the direction of a different table.

" **SUrE. JuST lET mE GeT mY BOyfRiENd anD SOMeOnE eLSe fIRsT.** "

"Ooooo! Ok! I'll wait here so you're not struggling to find me again!" 

" **thAnkS.** "

Error nodded to Kirishima before going over to the table he had been sitting before. Lust looked up from his food as he made his way over, smiling and waving to him. Error smiled as well, leaning against the table and looking to Compassion who was happily eating his sandwich.

" **HEy sUGaR pLUm. gOt AN iNVitE To SIt wITh sOMe oTHerS. CAn yOU coMe wiTh? It'S ALrIGhT iF nOT**."

Lust blinked in surprise for a moment before a bright smile set on his face and he nodded quickly. He gently got up, careful not to jostle Compassion and interrupt him before clinging to Error's arm.

"Awwe! I'm so proud of you for making friends! My big man is getting even bigger, sob-" He said, sniffling dramatically. 

" **OH hUsH. thEy iNVitEd mE, I sAId nOThINg. sOdA pOP, yoU wANna ComE TOo oR StAy?** "

"Hm-? Oh! Yes-!!" Compassion said with a grin, hopping up from his seat and grabbing his food. 

Lust giggled, taking Compassion's hand and grabbing his own tray and looked up to Error patiently. Error nodded once they were sure they were both ready and walked back over to where they had left Kirishima. Kirishima grinned once he noticed them, waving them over wildly. Error rolled his eyes at the younger's antics but went over anyway.

"So this is your boyfriend, huh? I remember you from the library! You're Lust, right?"

"Oh! Yeah! I remember you too, Kirishima!" Lust said with a giggle.

"Sweet! Two friends! Come on, then! The others are waiting." 

Kirishima led the small family over to his table, where he noticed more of his peers sat. It was weird, but it seemed that the classes never split up for different subjects. Which was only disappointing to Dust, since he couldn't see his boyfriends in the other class. The gravity girl, who Error had learned was named Uraraka, waved to them when she noticed them getting closer. Error also noticed Midoriya and Iida who sat with her. He did raise give a questioning expression when he noticed those Todoroki and Bakugo kids sitting with him, though, since he thought they had hated him. Then again, he was naturally bad at reading people- 

"Error-kun! Good afternoon! Who are these?" Iida greeted as they sat down.

"Hello to you too. I'm Lust Cua, Error's boyfriend. And this is our son Compassion." Lust said in return, holding Compassion close.

"Hiya! I'm Compassion! You have really cool hair!" Compassion said with a giggle, pointing to Todoroki.

It took Shouto by surprise, as he had not expected to be acknowledged at all. Nonetheless, he gave a small nod in thanks to the child. 

"Ah, you are in class 1-B, correct?" Iida continued, scooting over a bit so the three could sit down comfortably. 

"Yep. You're lucky, Error's a big softie, really. And don't be intimidated by Nightmare either. As long as Cross is there, he's pretty tame."

"Tame? Like a fuckin animal?" Bakugo asked, surprising everyone that he had spoken up.

"No, like you really," Lust teased, "You have quite the reputation, Katsuki Bakugo. But that reputation is gone when you're with your special someones, hm?"

"Hey- What the fuck is that supposed to mean-?" he said, growling lowly.

"Oh nothing, darling~" 

" **mINd hIM. He'S a TEaSe.** " Error said, lightly bopping Lust on the head.

Lust giggled, leaning against Error as he continued to eat.

"Oh yeah-! That reminds me-! I wanted to ask about your friend Dream-? They seemed pretty upset the other day but I couldn't check on them at the time- Did they get hurt or something?" Kirishima asked, tilting his head slightly. 

"Dream? They're ok, yeah. They're just getting used to going to public school, really. They were homeschooled their whole life with Nightmare so this is a bit hard for them. But yeah, they're doing pretty good. Ink, their partner, has been taking care of them." Lust answered.

"That's good to hear-" Uraraka said with a smile.

"Gee, Error-kun. You all have cool sounding names- Coming up with Hero Names might even be easy for you!" Sero acknowledged.

" **hErO nAMeS?** "

"Ya know, like All Might! That's not his actual name, that's his hero name. Or Eraser Head, Mr Aizawa!" Kirishima explained. 

"Ohhh- Well I for sure would not use my first name as a hero name- But I'm sure I can come up with something," Lust nodded, wiping Compassion's face clean of the crumbs that stayed there. 

"Hey- Error-?" Midoriya spoke up.

" **WhAt'S Up mIDOriYa?** "

"I- Uhm- off topic but- I was just wondering if- Maybe you h-had any prior expierience-? I-! Sorry- Just- I was observing t-the way you fought and passed t-the tests today and just- Those moves and techniques l-look too clean for you to have never done this before-"

" **It'S Ok. ANd yEs. I hAVe. BUt mUCh lIKe yOUr SWeEthEArT hEre,** " he motioned to Shouto, " **iT WasN't pREtTy.** "

"Oh- I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault, hun. We all have different paths to take, and his just happens to have a few more bumps. But think of it this way, you have the opportunity to help others who's bumps are one too many. That could help someone in the future." Lust said with a smile.

"You sure do speak a lot in Error's place, huh?" Bakugo put in with an unimpressed expression.

"K-kaachan-!"

"Papa does that to help daddy! Daddy has... What was it called again-?" Compassion asked, looking up to Lust.

"Autism. Error's autistic, and speaking is a bit harder for him. So, I've grown to know when he needs help. It's alright, Midoriya. I am a bit chatty anyway, haha-" Lust said with a smile.

Error nodded in confirmation, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. Bakugo looked at Error for a moment, a spark of interest in his eyes before letting out a hum of understanding.

"A bit more alike than I thought. He beat my score, is seen to be the strongest of you, and has what everyone else would consider a 'setback'. We might just get along." Bakugo said with a nod.

"What do you mean?" Lust asked, interest sparking in his eyes as well.

Bakugo didn't say anything, simply reaching up and pulling out one of his hearing aids from his ear. Lust grinned in understanding, looking up to Error and back to Bakugo.

"Damn. All the cool kids making disabilities look cool," he snickered.

"I'm not c-cool-" Midoriya muttered.

"I am," Todoroki said taking the statement literally. 

Lust only laughed harder, Compassion joining in. Kirishima looked up from his food, smiling as well despite not knowing entirely what Lust was laughing at.

"Hey!! Bakugo-!" Compassion said suddenly, grinning and tapping the table with excitement.

Bakugo looked to Compassion silently, raising a brow to indicate he was listening.

"You did the explodey thing the other day! Do you store that from within you, like a core? Or is it powered by something outside like temp-er-at-ure control?" Compassion asked, his eyes bright with curiosity. 

"Outside. It's nitroglycerin sweat that I ignite."

"Woooah!! Is that why you have those big chunky things on your arms? To hold it and set it off all at once?"

"Mhm. You're pretty insightful for a kid, pipsqueak."

"Thank you! I'm actually more your age, haha- My brain is just- smol!" 

"Wait, hold on- You're not like 7 or something-??" Kirishima asked, intrigued. 

"Nope. Monsters age differently than humans do. So while his body, mind, and speech may seem that of a child, his intelligence and insight are twice his physical age. But even then, none of us really know how old we are- Since age doesn't really play a huge part in our species-" Lust explained. 

"That's both extremely cool and extremely freaky-" Sero spoke up, looking at Lust.

"Well, the way you guys age is like super fast so you have no room to talk-" 

"Hey, where are your other friends, Error-?"

' ** _Sitting together with class 1-B. Dust wanted to sit with his boyfriends and the rest just tagged along. Nightmare is in the infirmary still._** ' Error signed.

"I- I- don't know ASL yet-" Kirishima admitted with an apologetic smile.

"They said they're with class 1-B. That Dust kid wanted to sit with his boyfriends. Joku is in the infirmary still, " Bakugo translated.

"Ohhh-! All you seem to be taken, huh? Shame for your simps, haha-... I hope Joku-kun's ok-"

"Simps-? Already-? We've been here like three days give or take?" Lust asked with disbelief. 

"Yeah! I heard some of the kids fawning over Nightmare and Dream mostly, haha. They seem to be the power twins right now. But, Error here has his own fanclub too!" Denki said, "I wish I had a fanclub- I'm lonely-"

"I'm a fan of yours, Denki," Shouto said, partially joking. 

"Awwe, thanks man- I'm a fan of you too!"

"Well, I know that Ink won't be happy with Dream's growing fame. They're a bit protective. Now I'm interested- I haven't had some good drama happen to me in a good few years so I'm willing to light a flame or two-" Lust grinned devilishly.

"Papa-! No-! You promised to be nice," Compassion scolded.

"Besides, we gotta train real good for the festival coming up like Mr Kan said! So we can demolish you guys," at the last sentence, Compassion's voice dropped a pitch and he grinned evily, a glint in his eyes.

Midoriya blinked in surprise, as he didn't think the younger could even think that way. But who was he to judge-? 

"Oh you can try, little dude, but we've got Katsuki in our class! We'll definitely win!" Sero said confidently.

"You damn right. Don't ever forget it." Bakugo said with a smug smile.

"I dunno, Bakugo, you might be beaten. Keeping up a smug attitude like that, and someone may just sweep you off your feet~" Lust teased, resting his arms on the table and propping his head up. 

"Who, you?" Bakugo said with a scoff.

"Oh my~ You've never seen me fight, love. For all you know, I could hold more potential and you would never know~ But no, I'm talking about him, actually," Lust said with a chuckle, looking to Midoriya.

Midoriya's eyes widened in surprise and fear, his head instinctively shaking rapidly as he waved his hands in denial.

"N-nonono- These t-two are way more p-powerful than me- I'm- I couldn't-"

"You doubt yourself, sweetie~ I can see you rising to the top easy. Maybe not soon, but not with too much difficulty. Unless you'd rather stay in their shadow your whole life?~"

" **LUsT. wE'rE nOT heRe tO STaRt fiGhtS.** "

"Fine, fine, my bad," Lust giggled, "Just know that the top is never solidified. It's always a fight to keep. Now, we best be off. We have some things to get before our next class. See you tomorrow, dearies~" 

Lust got up carefully, smoothing out his skirt and picking up his tray. He took Compassion's hand as the other had gathered up his trash and they headed off to clean up. Error watched them go for a moment, a small smile on his face before he turned back to his own box. It lay completely untouched, as usual, and he knew what to do with it. Before he did so, though, he looked up to the triad in front of him. 

Bakugo, Todoroki and Deku. 

An unlikely few in their mind. But they made it work, apparently, since they all seemed happy together. It reminded him a bit of his old triad, and that made them smile. Shouto noticed their gaze, giving them a confused expression. Error only nodded in Midoriya's direction with a small smile. Shouto didn't entirely understand, but he gently ran his hand through Deku's hair in response. Deku gave a small pleased hum, leaning into the touch and shutting his eyes. 

They were a cute few, Error would not lie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"K-kaachan-? What's w-wrong-?" Midoriya asked as he backed up against the wall.

Bakugo sneered, rolling his eyes as he trapped Midoriya between his arms and stared down at him.

"Just shut up and keep still."

"K-katsu-"

" _Quiet_."

Midoriya bit his lip, fear seeding in his heart as Bakugo stared him down. He folded his hands over his chest, shrinking under the taller's gaze. Eventually, Bakugo let out a low "tch" and leaned forward so he was right in Midoriya's face. Midoriya let out a little sound of surprise, averting his eyes from his face. 

"Look at me, Izuku."

Midoriya turned his head slowly, looking up at Bakugo for a split second before looking down again. Bakugo growled, taking hold of Midoriya's face and forcing him to look him in the eyes. Midoriya let out an involuntary whimper, his hand going up to grab Bakugo's to try and loosen his grip. He shut his eyes, squeezing them tightly as his heart began to race.

"You need to stop fucking doubting yourself like that. It makes me so god damn angry every time you don't acknowledge your potential and I swear I was about to explode when you denied it at lunch."

Midoriya hesitated, his eyes opening in surprise. He hadn't expected that to be the thing that Bakugo was upset about- But then again not a lot of people could tell what he was really upset about anyway. He timidly looked up at him for a moment, his brows knitted in fear. Never of Bakugo, of course, as the boy made him feel that much safer than before when they were rivals. It was rather the fear that he would make someone as amazing as his Kaachan leave because he couldn't give him what he needed.

"S-sorry K-kaachan-"

"Don't you dare be fucking sorry. You have nothing to apologise for. Just-" Bakugo sighed, "Sorry. I'm being too aggressive again. Just- Deku, I want you to realize how special you are. And the more you deny it the more I feel like a failure for not showing you what I see. And I hate failure."

Bakugo released Midoriya's face, instead leaning in so he could rest his head on the smaller's shoulder. Midoriya's face flushed with embarrassment and shame and he bit the innards of his cheek gently.

"I- Katsuki- Please- You're n-not a failure- You're so amazing and smart- and caring- and I'm just-... I'm so g-glad I can g-get to hold you like this-" Midoriya mumbled into his ear, shakily reaching up so he could hug the other.

"Is everything ok?"

The two shot up at the sound of the new voice, turning towards the door to see who it was. Both of them relaxed when they realized it was just Shouto, Bakugo gently pulling Deku away from the wall and reaching out to the other.

"Come here. You're helping me reassure this nerd," he said.

"Midoriya..." Shouto said quietly, his expression going soft.

He made his way over to the two, stepping behind Midoriya so he could hug him from behind. The two made sure to keep their hands up and in the places Midoriya felt most comfortable with so their comfort could be maximised. Midoriya started to shake softly, the overwhelming feeling of comfort from both the people he cared about most making him feel loved. Tears spilt from his eyes quietly and he buried his head into Bakugo's shoulder with a choked sob.

"I-i'm so- s-so-rry-" he croaked out.

The two held him gently, peppering little kisses wherever they could and whispering soft reassurances to him. They knew it wasn't something the smaller could control, so they helped him through it to the best of their abilities. Bakugo did his best to keep his impulses under control, not wanting to scare Deku or set him off in any way while he was already down.

"Midoriya, baby, it's alright. You're ok and you're safe. You know we love you, right?"

"Yeah, dumbass. We wouldn't be here right now if we didn't care. So- Take a deep breath, goddammit. Don't let this feeling win."

Midoriya could only nod through his sniffles, reaching up to wipe his runny nose so he could breathe better. He clutched Bakugo's shirt gently, snuggling into him and holding Shouto's hand with his other one. Shouto pressed a gentle kiss to Midoriya's nape, making himself warmer so Midoriya could feel safer. Bakugo reached up so he could run a careful hand through Midoriya's hair, being careful of the tangles he ran into as he did so. 

'Thank you,' he signed, unable to form proper words. 

"Of course, nerd. You better come to us next time you start feeling like this."

"Please don't hesitate, love. That's what we're here for. To support each other." Shouto hummed softly, moving his hands down to wrap around Midoriya's waist.

"Now come on. We're moving to the bed so we can get some cuddles in. Don't even think about arguing because you deserve them," Bakugo said, taking Deku's hands and pulling him towards his bed.

Shouto smiled at how Midoriya tried to stutter out a protest, helping Bakugo out by gently pushing him along. The three of them flopped onto the bed, Shouto and Bakugo holding Midoriya between them. Before they squished him though, Bakugo propped himself up and laid a hand on Deku's cheek.

"Hey nerd, you need to take it off so you don't suffocate while you sleep."

"K-kaachan-" Midoriya stuttered out, his hands curling over his chest protectively.

"Midoriya, please. I know it's uncomfortable, but we don't want to accidentally hurt you while we're trying to comfort you. So, can you please take it off?"

Midoriya bit his lip, his brows furrowed in disappointment. He hesitated for a moment before silently nodding in agreement. Bakugo and Shouto respectfully looked away, not wanting to make the change anymore uncomfortable for him than necessary. With great reluctance, Midoriya slipped his shirt off slowly, looking down to his binder. He scratched at the fabric for a moment as he really didn't want to take it off, but eventually sighed, slowly wriggling the binder off. He quickly slipped his shirt back on before he could look at himself and laid back down.

"O-ok-" he said softly, his hands returning to their place over his chest.

The two other boys looked back to him, smiling softly at their smaller partner. Todoroki laid down behind him, wrapping his arms around the other's hips again gently. Bakugo followed, laying in front of him and cradling him close to his chest. As the three settled comfortably, Midoriya started to relax finally. His tense muscles loosened the longer he stayed between the two, the feeling of security being reassuring to him. He snuggled up to Bakugo a bit more, making sure to back his hips into Todoroki so the other was sure he was included too. 

"Love you, dumbass. Don't forget that."

Midoriya smiled, leaning up and pressing a little kiss to Bakugo's chin. He turned around for a moment so he could also press a kiss to Todoroki's nose before letting out a content sigh and settling down. 

"Thank you..." he mumbled before dozing off.

Bakugo smiled once Deku had fallen asleep, listening to the smaller's soft snores for a moment. God, he wanted to protect him from everything- He knew that was impossible, but like hell he wasn't going to try and make it at least comfortable. After confronting his feelings for Deku that he had been unable to read or express properly his whole life, he swore he would do everything in his power to make sure he would treat him right. Shouto was an unexpected stone in the calm, but he wasn't complaining. The stupid softie was an addition to his life was glad to add in. 

Speaking of the half n half bastard, Bakugo looked over to him to make sure he was ok. While Shouto was often one to help calm Deku a bit faster, the kid himself was not as calm as he seemed. Especially after Deku came out to him. 

Don't get him wrong, Shouto had been 100% supportive and understanding, even though it had taken him a while to understand what exactly Deku meant since he had never heard the term before- But it had made the icyhot bastard realize something within himself as well. No, he wasn't saying he felt like Deku did, not exactly anyway, but there was definitely something wrong within himself. He didn't know what words to use to describe this feeling, and like every other time he doesn't have a name for his feelings, he ignores them. 

"Hey, icyhot."

Shouto looked up at the sound of Bakugo's soft voice, rousing him from his thoughts.

"You alright?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean how are you feeling. You've been starin at Deku ever since he passed out and you only do that when you're thinking too hard about something."

"... I'm... Confused. But for the most part, I'm ok. Just... Some things I need to figure out." Shouto admitted, knowing Bakugo would nag him until he told if he had denied.

"Well stop worrying about that right now before you wake him up. You two worry too much."

"And you don't?"

"Shut the hell your mouth." 

Shouto gave a soft giggle, reaching out and resting a hand in Bakugo's hair.

"Sorry, love. We should get some sleep though, so we can be up in time to help him out."

"Fine, but I'm in charge of making breakfast this time you disaster." Bakugo huffed, nonetheless leaning into Todo's touch.

"Apologies, I-"

"I know. You don't need to tell me. If your dad wasn't the number two pro hero I'd probably blow his fucking head off."

"You wouldn't need to-"

"I would anyway. Get some sleep while you're here." 

Bakugo stopped him, gently grabbing the hand in his hair and pulling it down to his lips. He kissed it gently and shut his eyes, not letting go. Todoroki let out a little sigh, a soft tone of colour dusting his cheeks. He followed suit, though, relaxing his aching muscles and allowing his eyelids to fall.

"I love you, Katuski."

"Love you too, half n half."


	7. Paternal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang hangs out with their class and relax  
> Shit gets wiild-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I just HAD to add a chatfic into this bc god I love the idea plus with what I'm planning it'll work really well-  
> if you need me to, I will put up a key for the usernames so you know who is who but I'm [retty sure I clarified p well-

"Ok but listen-"

"Lust- Sweetheart- I love you but not everyone you meet is immediately gay-"

" _Listen_ \- Dream- You gotta believe me- In fact I was looking around your class specifically and I noticed one the kids had a bracelet that looked rather similar to an identifier set so when they come out I am going to l a u g h because I am R I G H T-"

"Ya know what fine if you're right then I will become your personal cook until we leave school."

"Oooooooo Dream my sweet baby child you are about to lose some m o n e y"

Dream and Lust were, very obviously, in an argument about the identities of their fellow peers. Lust was on the side of "No one is cishet" and Dream was arguing that was pretty illogical. Dream, of course, was always one to hide behind weird logic anyway so Lust was about 99.9% sure he was already right. 

"Look if I was able to tell that this one kid, who by the way is a sweetheart much like your Kirishima, was trans then I'm pretty sure my gaydar is in high alert-"

"That- Doesn't even make sense-"

"Shhhhh- Error-! Help me out here-! Who in your class can you tell are absolute icons-?!"

" **DEfINetLy dENkI.** "

"Wait no-! You can't ask him! He can just look at the codes!" Dream put in, sitting up straight in their place on the couch.

"Damn it!! I thought I would get away with that!"

" **LUSt, mE aND CoMPaSsiON ARe gOInG oUT. Do YOU wANt To cOMe?** "

"Oh-!! Damn it-! I wish I could, sunshine, but I gotta do some homework for Kan- Can you bring me back something and I'll make you some hot chocolate when you guys get back?"

" **SuRE. jUSt mAkE SUrE to ASk iF YoU nEEd Help.** " Error shrugged, grabbing his satchel off the rack of clothes and heading over to where Compassion was colouring to tell him they were leaving now.

"Thank yooooou! I love you two! Have fun!" Lust waved goodbye to the two as they left, albeit the rising paranoia part of his brain told him to go with them.

"So anyway. Did you call me over here just to talk to me about how no one in our class is cishet or did you actually need help with something?" Dream asked when the door closed behind Error and Compassion.

"Oh yeah-! I needed help with Kan's homework and shit like this is your thing-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Class I-gAy **

** 5:46 p.m. **

***VroomVroom added Error CQ, Nightmare Joku, and 3 others to the chat!***

**Achoochoo:** !!! 

**Achoochoo:** Tenya my guy r those our new kids

***Screaming*:** Streak look at the names and then ask that shit again

**Cross Joku:** What

 **Cross Joku:** What is happening why are we here

**LesbianJesus:** Hello! This is our Class group chat! Tenya added you guys because Sensei Aizawa suggested so!

**Nightmare Joku:** Pog 

***Nightmare Joku changed Nightmare Joku's name to TentAnkles***

***TentAnkles changed Cross Joku's name to EDtheLine***

***TentAnkles changed Error CQ's name to CANCELLED***

***TentAnkles changed Dust Cua's name to SIKE***

***TentAnkles changed Dream Joku's name to ImBabie***

**EDtheLine:** Whomst thine fuck-

**VroomVroom:** Oh! You don't know who we are- Hold on one second!

**VroomVroom: @ everyone**

**VroomVroom:** Please introduce yourselves to our new students so they know who is who!

 **VroomVroom:** I'm Tenya Iida! The Class President :)

**LesbianJesus:** Hello! I'm Momo Yaoyorozu and I'm the Vice! 

**Achoochoo:** sup I'm denki kaminari but call me kami pls

**No** : I'm Aizawa. Don't @ me unless it's important.

**~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~~Bonjour! I am Yuga Aoyama!~~~~

**ResidentBitchQueen:** What happened why was I @ 

**ResidentBitchQueen:** oh

 **ResidentBitchQueen:** Hi I'm Mina howsitgoin 

**HippityHoppity:** I'm Tsuyu Asui, kero. Call me Tsu 

**RockNRoll:** Hi!! I'm Eijirou!! 

***Screaming*:** Bakugo.

**Smallmight:** ahhhh sorry for being late!! hi!! I'm izuku midoriya!!

**Achoochoo:** bro we need to get our cryptids over here so they can know who tf they are

**ResidentBitchQueen** : well Tokoyami's currently asleep in my lap so

**Achoochoo:** D:

 **Achoochoo:** and I'm not? :((

**ResidentBitchQueen:** get your ass over here then u coward

**Smallmight:** anyway!! **@ SugarDaddy** is Rikido Satou **@!Kouda!** is Koji Kouda **@ VoidCreature** is Fumikage Tokoyami **@ NotHentai** is Mezo Shouji **@ S M A C C** is Mashirao Ojiro **@ InvisiBitch <3** is Toru Hagakure! 

**Smallmight** : they're called our cryptid crew because they're like never on lmao

**TentAnkles** : sounds p dope but where are the others isn't there like two or three more

**SuperGay:** oh my bad my phone was on silent hi I'm Kyoka Jirou 

**U'llFloatToo:** !!!

 **U'llFloatToo:** Hi!! I am!! Here!!

 **U'llFloatToo:** I'm Ochaco Uraraka :DD

**itbelikethat** : oh

 **itbelikethat:** hi

 **itbelikethat:** I'm shouto

**SIKE:** oh dope 

**SIKE:** always wanted to be apart of these back in primary 

**SIKE:** is this where all the school tea is spilt

**Smallmight:** ah yes he is cultured

**SIKE** : hell yeah I am

**Achoochoo:** ur gonna fit right in

**ImBabie:** What a shitstorm

 **ImBabie:** I love it

**Achoochoo:** holy shit I didn't think u were capable of swearing u looked like such a goody twoshoes

**TentAnkles:**.

**ImBabie:** you guys can't see it but Nightmare is laughing his ass off right now

**TentAnkles:** holdy sjit dRESM

**ImBabie:** yes we know

 **ImBabie:** also **@ Invisibitch <3 **is Hagakure right-

**Achoochoo:** oh shit u right yea 

**Achoochoo:** where she @ anyway

**U'llFloatToo:** she and Ojiro are 'out' rn don't bother the 'not straights'

**SuperGay:** holy shit straights

**TentAnkles** : DREAM YOU OWE LUST MONEY

**ImBabie:** FUCK DONT TELL HIM THAT

**Achoochoo** : ???

**TentAnkles:** Dream, like a dumbass, bet that everyone here was cishet bc they were feeling stupid

**Achoochoo:** H A 

**Achoochoo:** F U NN Y

**Smallmight:** GAY SOUND OFF **@ everyone**

**SuperGay:** take a guess 

**Smallmight:** super trans n bi ammmnteihurokmju

**ResidentBitchQueen:** mmmm super trans 

**TentAnkles:** wait wait hol up since I'm a gentleman can u include pronouns too bc I'm just nice like that

**Smallmight** : awwe- I'm he/him and bun/buns/bunself!!

**SuperGay:** they/them she/her

**Achoochoo:** wait surprise everyone I'm also on the genderfluid train this is my coming out

**ImBabie:** wait really

**Achoochoo:** yeah

**ImBabie:** :D

 **ImBabie:** fren

**Achoochoo:** fren

**No:** Heartwarming. **@ Achoochoo** do you have an indicator as Dream does?

**Achoochoo:** uhh,,, yeah I have bracelets,,, 

**Achoochoo:** yellow is she/her black is he/him and grey is they/them

**No:** Thank you for telling me

 **No:** and while we're at it, I'm trans as well, he/him

**Smallmight:** NORHNWFKJNLIRWOH8GRJKF

 **Smallmight:** REALLY??? 

**Smallmight:** :DDDD

**TentAnkles:** I'm crying Dream owes Lust so much fucking money,,,

**ImBabie:** shut up gay people have no rights

**TentAnkles:** Ok Homo

**~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~Congratulations **@ Achoochoo** ! I'm so proud of you!~~~

 **~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~I guess I would like to take this time to come out as well!~~~

 **~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~I am non-binary! I would like xe/xem used for me, merci!~~~

**No:** Thank you for letting me know

**VroomVroom:** I'm so happy you guys felt safe enough to let us all know! Let's all try out best to respect our friends' pronouns, everyone!

**U'llFloatToo:** Iida said trans rights

**VroomVroom:** trans rights

**RockNRoll:** !!

 **RockNRoll:** Congrats to u too Aoyama! We love u!! :D

 **RockNRoll:** I'm cryingg our trans fam is growing hi I'm a fellow tran i am a he/him

**TentAnkles** : I am Enlightened my crops have been Watered

**ImBabie:** I'm horrified because you never talk like this irl Nightmare please stop

**TentAnkles:** No <3

**Achoochoo:** spicy

**FlexTape:** HI IM LATE HI IM HANTA SERO Y'ALL ARE WONDERFUL AOYAMA AND DENKI I FUCKIN LOVE N ACCEPT U AS A FELLOW HOMO

**Achoochoo:** cukjnwdwhowejnfwhk

 **Achoochoo:** Sero i forgot u were here,,,

***Screaming*:** trans rights 

**Smallmight:** Kaachan have I ever told you I'm in love with you

***Screaming*:** shut the hell your mouth

**Smallmight:** mwuah 

**itbelikethat:** :(

**Smallmight:** mwuah

**itbelikethat:** :)

**TentAnkles:** Gay

**EDtheLine:** Nightmare I am Right Here

**TentAnkles:** G A Y 

**EDtheLine:** also hi I'm a demidue so like he/they for me and **@ CANCELLED**

**itbelikethat:** d,,,demidude?

 **itbelikethat:** I'm not familiar with that term???

**Smallmight:** it means they're not entirely male but he's also not entirely nonbinary either!! 

**Smallmight:** he's in the middle of nb and male!

**EDtheLine:** yepp

**itbelikethat** : you,,, you can do that,,,?

**EDtheLine:** well I mean I'd assume so bc like a lot of people do so :/

***Screaming*:** Is that what you were talking about with me, icyhot?

**itbelikethat:** dnjkjfheuwy Kat please,,,

 **itbelikethat:** dm,,, not here,,,,

**Smallmight:** oh Shouchan- I'm sorry-

**itbelikethat:** no no it's ok just- pls-

**TentAnkles:** guys look at my humbby he's wonderful and sweet n likes helping people I love them

**EDtheLine:** nwguhwruihviw

**ImBabie:** Nightmare Please I Am Afraid

**TentAnkles:** UwU

***ImBabie kicked TentAnkles for 1 hour***

**ImBabie:** N E V E R A G A I N

**Achoochoo** : I am still reeling that tentacle eldritch horror just said uwu and expected no one to be afraid

**EDtheLine:** oh he knew you'd be afraid

 **EDtheLine:** that's why he did it

**ImBabie:** topic change I like how our arrival triggered a coming out train

**Achoochoo:** lmao yeah we're chaotic like that

**Smallmight:** just wait until the dying hours of the night

 **Smallmight:** we will rise

**ImBabie:** *fear*

**VoidCreature:** I have risen at the call of my people to also inform you that I too, am nonbinary. They/them, please and thank you.

**Smallmight:** Fumikage!!!

 **Smallmight:** tran buddies!!

**VoidCreature:** buhofjelk

 **VoidCreature:** Dark Shadow would like to inform you that his pronouns are he/him and that if he is called it once more we will be battling in the deepest parts of the forest in the dying hours of the night

**ResidentBitchQueen:** I will throw hands in his honour

**Smallmight** : rt

**ImBabie:** rt

**SIKE:** rt

**EDtheLine:** rt

**FlexTape:** rt

***Screaming*:** rt

**itdobelikethat:** rt

**RockNRoll:** rt

**Achoochoo:** rt

**U'llFloatToo:** rt

**SuperGay:** rt

**LesbianJesus:** rt

**VroomVroom:** rt

**CANCELLED:** rt

**ImBabie:** !!!

 **ImBabie:** Error aren't u out with Compassion???

**Achoochoo:** yooo it's glitch maaan my duuude

**CANCELLED:** I am, but right now I'm sitting in the waiting room of this nail salon because Compassion doesn't want me to see what colour he got yet

**U'llFloatToo:** cute holy shit

**Smallmight:** who,,, who's Compassion,,,

***Screaming*:** you're such an idiot Deku the kid that asked me about my gauntlets at lunch

**Smallmight:** OH

 **Smallmight:** hufdwbgwugh sorry I'm dumb

**CANCELLED:** It's fine. He's still kind of small so I guess he's a bit easy to miss in uniform

**ImBabie:** now OUT of uniform...

**U'llFloatToo** : condescending

 **U'llFloatToo:** I like it

**itbelikethat: @ No**

**itbelikethat:** another parent

**No:** see username

**itbelikethat:** admit it shinsou is your child

**No:** goodnight Shouto

**Smallmight:** pardon my language but I call bullshit sir 

**Smallmight:** ur a part of the insomnia squad >:(

**Achoochoo:** **@ CANCELLED** what salon u at I know u got good taste and I want mine done 

**CANCELLED:** Uh

 **CANCELLED:** It's the one right next to the Boba shop on 5th street

***CANCELLED sent a location!***

**CANCELLED:** Here

**Achoochoo:** tyyyy

 **Achoochoo:** parents arent home rn guys lets go I can sneak out

**ResidentBitchQueen:** Hold on I'm coming with

**CANCELLED:** **@ Everyone** whoever wants to come better come now it's closing in an hour and I dunno how far all of you live from it

 **CANCELLED:** Also tell me who's coming because I'm paying

 **CANCELLED:** Don't argue, it's my treat. Unless it seriously distresses you, of course

**Achoochoo:** BVJKEHFURJJNWKV

 **Achoochoo:** **@ *Screaming*** sorry but Error's my fav now

***Screaming*** : Fuck you too blondie

**No:** I'm coming just so I can piss of Endeavor who I have to meet with tomorrow.

 **No:** But I will pay.

**CANCELLED:** Got it

**ResidentBitchQueen:** Sensei really out here doing God's work smh

 **ResidentBitchQueen:** I'm coming btw

**Smallmight:** Shouchan's busy rn but!! He wants to come too!!

**CANCELLED:** Mk. Anyone else?

**Achoochoo:** I'm sobbing at how fast we've just accepted these guys into our dysfunctional family

***Screaming*:** I mean they were going to anyway

**FlexTape:** ,,, gay urge,,, calling,,, shall,,, fufill

 **FlexTape: @ VoidCreature** pls come with me

**VoidCreature:** ok

**CANCELLED:** That makes 6, I believe. Anyone else?

**itbelikethat:** I don't believe

 **itbelikethat:** I can pay too btw

 **itbelikethat:** I wanna piss off my dad by how much I've spent on 'useless shit'

**CANCELLED:** Valid

 **CANCELLED:** Checked his codes. Want me to deck him?

**No:** I get to first. But please don't because too much paperwork

**Achoochoo:** kfhjerhuir go off sensei

**itbelikethat:** no I get to first

**No:** Valid

**VroomVroom:** ,,, I left for like,,, 20 minutes guys,,,

**Achoochoo:** sorry Iida :(

 **Achoochoo:** wanna get ur nails done with us

**VroomVroom:** as tempting as that sounds, I am currently busy, so I will have to refuse

**Smallmight:** ooooo Iida r u doin Mic's homework

**VroomVroom:** yes, I am. Do you need some help?

**Smallmight:** god yes can we ft

**VroomVroom:** of course!

**CANCELLED** : Last call for Boba Nails

**Achoochoo:** interesting name but aight I'm walkin in now

** *Seen 7:03 p.m.* **

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So as the group went about their little bounding activity, the others either slept (*cough* Bakugo *cough*) or worked on homework and the likes. Error admitted that even though he was extremely doubtful, he would protect the kids of this class with his life. All of them seemed like total crackheads, sure, but they were all golden at heart. And that's what he loved about them. (Except Mineta, who could honestly go rot.)

It was also amusing to see Aizawa try and pretend like he wasn't listening as Denki rambled on about whatever came to mind while they were getting their nails done. But Error was good with microexpression, so he noticed the slight twitch of the teacher's lips. 

"-and so I was like 'You can't do that shit you're like 12' and this little infant had the audacity to go and be like 'Well at least I'm tall' like shut the hell your mouth with this tiny vessel I hold endless amounts of rage," Denki went on, rolling their eyes and sighing as they tried their best to hold still for the lady painting their nails.

"So you short-circuited his X-Box," Aizawa said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I did. And his PS4. And PC. I fixed it later though bc I felt bad."

"Coward," Mina piped up from where she was sitting and waiting for her nails to dry.

"Hey-! No-! That was very nice of Mx Kami because they took responsibility for their actions!" Compassion huffed, tapping his foot at Mina.

"Oh shit small fry, my bad-"

"Nevermind, I'm committing a felony-" 

" **COmpAsSioN.** "

"Just one!"

"I feel threatened-" Mina said.

"You should," Compassion replied.

Error rolled their eyes, walking over to Compassion and gently lifting the younger up. They perched him on their shoulders and he gave a little squeak of surprise and fear. Error examined his freshly painted nails since they were right by their face now and smiled up to their son.

**"YEllOw LoOkS GoOD on YOu SoDA PoP."**

"Wait you got yellow too?? Hell yeah Bumble Bee Bros-" Denki grinned up from their spot.

"Hhhhhh- Thank you-" Compassion mumbled, hiding his face in embarrassment.

"Whoever is done should head back, since it's getting late and we have training to do with All Might tomorrow," Aizawa said, looking at his freshly painted black and white nails.

"Awwe, but I was getting good tea with Denkiiii-" Sero complained, leaning back in his seat.

"Go home, Flex Tape."

"Damn aight, fine. Come on Tokoyami, let's go be cryptid."

"Ok," Tokoyami shrugged, getting up and following Sero out the door. 

They were careful to not ruin their nails, as they didn't entirely trust the drying machines because of how warm their hands were all the time. Error watched the two go for a moment before heading up to the front counter and placing some yen down. 

" **TIpS fOr tHE oNe WhO dID My SOn's.** "

"Oh-! Thank you very much!" the lady said with a smile, taking the money back to what Error assumed was the staff room.

Even if the lady didn't end up giving her the money herself, Error could just transfer the credits whenever he needed. It was fine. Error looked back at the others, smiling as he noticed that Aizawa had fallen asleep at his drying station. From what he could tell, the teacher was tired quite often so he hoped that he was sleeping well. Or at least on some meds or something-

"Oh dope-! Thank you all so much-!" Denki said with a smile, inspecting their nails. 

"Of course! Yellow looks so good on you!" the woman who just finished up with Denki said.

"Awe- Thanks- Sensei-! Wake up my guy, we got a patriarchy to take down!"

Aizawa lazily opened an eye from where he was laying and rolled it. He sat up and stretched his arms out, letting out a content sigh as he did so. He brought his hands back down to make sure he hadn't messed them up while he was sleeping. 

"I'm up. Do you need me to take you home, Denki? If your parents are home, it'd be easier for me to explain to them while you were out." Aizawa offered, grabbing his jacket from the chair and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Oh geez- Uhm- Yeah, honestly- I think I'd feel a bit better if you did, actually- If you don't mind-?"

"I don't. I'm the one who offered, anyway. Come one then. Thanks, Error, for paying. Hope to see you tomorrow."

" **iT WaS NOtHINg. sEe yOU boTh tOMoRrOW**."

"Ah- See you tomorrow then, Error-! Thanks for paying, by the way-!"

Error nodded to Denki as he and Aizawa walked out the door, Denki starting to talk up a storm again. Error then realized that Mina had also already left, probably with Sero and Tokoyami, since he hadn't noticed. She seemed rather quiet, too, which from what he had seen of her was rather unusual. He didn't get to dwell on it too long though, since Compassion was tapping his head gently to get his attention.

"Daddy-? I'm tired- I wanna go home now-" he said slowly, leaning against Error for support.

" **oKaY SOdA pOP. WE're lEavINg, nOw, oK?** "

Compassion gave a little grumble, nodding gently as Error waved goodbye to the people at the front desk. Error was careful to duck down so Compassion wouldn't hit his head on the doorframe as they left, letting out a soft chuckle as Compassion merely waved goodbye once they were out the door. 

Deciding to check his notification, Error pulled out his phone. He was almost surprised when he saw nearly 200+ notifications but then remembered he had been put into at least three group chats. He sighed but nonetheless opened up his messaging app to see what shit was going down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Class 1-gAy **

** 8:29 p.m. **

**Smallmight:** So I was telling him to shut the hell up, right?

**U'llFloatToo:** a bold decision

**Smallmight:** sure

 **Smallmight:** but ya see, I failed to realize that it was the first time I had spoken up against him in like,,, ever,,,

***Screaming*:** I had a right to be surprised you're always like,,, super passive,,,

**Smallmight:** ok but I was on my period and just found that my mom wasn't going to be home overnight I was having a shitty day

 **Smallmight:** and my tiny 5'4" ass started going off on Kaachan's fat fucking kankles 

**U'llFloatToo:** BFKRJBGHUIRW DEK U

**Smallmight:** SO HE JUST SITS THERE

 **Smallmight:** AND I SWEAR TO GOD HE WAS TORN BETWEEN AWE AND AROUSAL 

***Screaming*:** I WAS

**SuperGay:** Uraraka you really should have been there my god SENSEI WOKE UP THAT'S HOW HARD HE WAS GOING OFF ON HIM

**No:** I have never heard problem child be so aggressive to anyone in his life

**U'llFloatToo:** FUCK I WISH I WAS THERE 

**Smallmight:** anyway that's the story of how I found out Kaachan had a thing for being degraded

***Screaming*:** WAIT HOLD THE FUCK UP THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SAY

**TentAnkles:** I'm gonna cr y this is so funny why are you all so horny and stupid

***Screaming*:** SHUT THE HELL YOUR MOUTH

**itdobelikethat:** ok but Kat, is he wrong?

***Screaming*:** DIVORCE

**CANCELLED:** I leave for not even an hour and there's been kinkshaming and divorce papers, huh

**TentAnkles:** Daddy's home

**CANCELLED:** Ya know what, Katsuki, I'm joining you

 **CANCELLED:** Friendship is over

**EDtheLine:** Divorce

**ImBabie:** how to divorce a twin

**TentAnkles:** Wow I feel so loved

**Smallmight:** anyways **@CANCELLED** i was tellin Uraraka about the day I actually snapped back @ kaachan

***Screaming*:** which has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING that happens behind closed doors

**SuperGay:** red's sus

***Screaming*:** You're officially no longer part of the bakusquad

**SuperGay:** wait no mom I'm sorry

***Screaming*:** tough

**CANCELLED:** Honestly I'm not even surprised

 **CANCELLED:** You all should head to bed though, since kids your age need about 7 hours of sleep

***Screaming*:** I was heading to bed anyway

**SuperGay:** oh no not a second mom friend

**CANCELLED:** Well if I wasn't my boyfriend probably would have killed himself doing something stupid so

***Screaming*: @Achoochoo @ Smallmight** look it's you

**Achoochoo:** I did not come here to get attacked like this

**Smallmight:** I thought you loved me

***Screaming*:** ew that's gay

 ***Screaming*:** I'm not some,,, homo,,, sexual *wretching*

**FlexTape:** I will never in my life ever get used to how Bakubro texts versus how he speaks

**Smallmight:** you'd think knowing him my whole life would make a difference but no dude I'm just as baffled

***Screaming*:** Goodnight bastards

 ***Screaming*:** go to fucking sleep, Sports Festival's in not even a week

**No:** I will disable this chat until tomorrow

**TentAnkles:** r00d

**ResidentBitchQueen:** but daaaaaaaad

**No:** <

**ResidentBitchQueen:** u didn't ft me and read me my bedtime story yet tho :(

**Achoochoo:** WAIT HOLD ON WHAT

 **Achoochoo:** SENSEI READS MINA BED TIME STORIES?? D:

**SuperGay:** SENSEI CAN BE SOFT????????? I WANT SOME??????????

**U'llFoatToo:** I am now totally engrossed in this and wish to witness

**No:** _*aggressive sighing noises*_

**No:** If you're really so nosy then I'll quick open a Zoom

 **No:** Mina picks because she always does so prepare for something either really gruesome or really fluffy

**Smallmight:** WAIT OH MY GOD REALLY I WANNA COME TOO

**RockNRoll:** DADZAWA DADZAWA DADZAWA DADZAWA

**InvisiBitch <3: **DADZAWA

**FlexTape:** DADZAWA

* **TentAnkles has changed No's name to Dadzawa!** *

**Dadzawa:** Thanks I hate it

**TentAnkles:** do you really tho?

 **TentAnkles:** ur opening a zoom to read to ur 'problem children' do u really hate it??????

**Dadzawa: @Smallmight** Nightmare is going to steal your problem child status

**Smallmight:** lol ok boomer

**Dadzawa** : Here's the link and code for the room 

***Dadzawa shared an image!***

***Dadzawa shared a link!***

**ResidentBitchQueen:** guihrjknjhgui thank u dad

**Achoochoo:** mina mina mina he's read to u b4 what's his reading voice sound like

**ResidentBitchQueen:** s,,,soft,,, so,,,, warm,,, 🥺🥺🥺

**Dadzawa:** expelled

 **Dadzawa:** what happens in chat

 **Dadzawa:** stays in chat

**ResidentBitchQueen:** wait dad no I'm sorry pls don't tell shinsou

**Dadzawa:** depends 

**ResidentBitchQueen:** *sobbing*

**Dadzawa:** who all is joining, say aye

**ResidentBitchQueen** : aye

**Achoochoo:** aye

**itdobelikethat:** aye

**Smallmight:** aye

**U'llFloatToo:** aye

**HippityHoppity:** aye

**LesbianJesus:** aye

**FlexTape:** aye

**~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~aye~~~

**SuperGay:** aye

**VoidCreature:** aye

**RockNRoll:** aye

**TentAnkls** : would join but resident dad at our house is already reading his kiddo to sleep so ill just listen to him lol

**CANCELLED:** then listen because I'll stop if you interrupt me again with your snorting

**TentAnkles:** ouch

**Dadzawa:** alright so everyone who's coming you better be in bed or wherever you sleep because I will not end the call until I am sure everyone is asleep

**Smallmight** : Dadddddzawaaaaa

**ResidentBitchQueen:** daaaaaddyyyyyy

**Dadzawa:** or I could just stare at you until you get uncomfortable

**ResidentBitchQueen:** vfohevnkfjui no I'm sorry,,,,

**Smallmight:** jokes on you I'm constantly uncomfortable

**Dadzawa:** Izuku

**Smallmight:** ,,,, shutting up,,,,

**Dadzawa:** goodnight to **@everyone** who is not joining 

**ImBabie:** goodnight **@everyone** !!

** *Seen at 10: 05 p.m.* **

~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku smiled as he snuggled up to Katsuki, who was already asleep. Shouto hadn't been able to come over today, since he had extra 'training' to complete for his shitty dad. They both had reassured him that it was ok, since they knew there wasn't much they could do about Endeavor anyway. He opened up his laptop, being sure to turn the brightness completely down so he didn't wake Katsuki and slipped his earbuds in. He knew Katsuki had already taken out his hearing aids, but he didn't want to wake his mom either.

He knew his mom was already asleep since it was near 11 and he couldn't hear her shuffling in the kitchen or the TV in the living room. So as he signed in to his laptop and opened Zoom, he turned on the LEDs strung around his room. He wasn't sure if Sensei would let him have his camera off, but he was pretty sure the older man wouldn't make them all do something that would make them uncomfortable. Before he entered the room though, he rolled over and gently pressed a kiss to Katsuki's cheek. The other shifted lightly, letting out a content sigh and clutching Izuku closer. Izuku smiled, turning back to his screen and joining the room.

Luckily, he wasn't too early so it wasn't just him and Aizawa. Mina, Tsu and Uraraka, and another kid (he's pretty sure his name was Shinsou-?) were there already. The girls perked up when they noticed he had joined and he had to hold back a laugh as Uraraka nearly fell off the bed she was sitting on so she could wave to him.

"Deku-!! Hiii!" she said excitedly.

"Heya Broccoli Kid!" Mina greeted.

"Hey Midoriya, kero," Tsu said with her usual flat smile.

"Hi guys! I'm surprised Kiri isn't here yet, haha, he's always early to everything-!"

"I was summoned-?" Kirishima said, suddenly joining as well.

"Kiri!!"

"Sharky!"

"Oh wow speak of the devil and he shall appear huh-" Izuku mumbled with a goofy grin.

"Hey-! I'm no devil-! I'm babie-" 

"You right, you right. Except when you're with me, huh?" Denki teased as he joined as well.

"Gay-" Izuku said.

"That's me" Denki snickered.

Denki smiled as they noticed Kirishima's reddening face, even through the poor camera quality. Izuku laughed as well, readjusting slightly so he could pull the covers up over to his collarbone. Uraraka gasped and got in close to the camera, practically sitting in Tsu's lap to get closer.

"Are you and Bakugo cuddling-????????" she asked with a squeal. 

Izuku rolled his eyes, guessing that they could see the other's spiky hair from behind him.

"Yeah, he's asleep right now. But he doesn't have his hearing aids in so I don't need to worry about waking him."

"I didn't think it was possible,," Denki said with a snicker.

"Shut your fuck Kaminari, you've wormed your way into his lap while he's reading so many times it's not even funny," Izuku said with a roll of his eyes. 

"Ok valid but like I've never cuddled with him before-"

"Maybe because he's not good with that unless he trusts the person with emotional vulnerability? He's still only had a month or two of therapy, Denks, give him some time to get used to affection from friends."

"Hhhhhh I knooowww-" 

"You can cuddle me, Denki-!" Kirishima put in, a bright smile on his face.

"While this is wholesome at the max, you all need to be getting ready to sleep. You can talk about cuddle arrangments after you're all rested." Aizawa said, rubbing his eyes gently.

Izuku smiled, readjusting so he could lay down on his back and turned his camera off. 

"Daaaad daaaad can you read us all some Harry Potter pleeeease-" Mina said, rolling over on to her stomach and bringing her laptop with her.

"Sure. Which one. I have all of them." Aizawa said, turning around and looking through the bookshelf behind him.

"Uhhhh I forgot the English name but uhmmm it's the one where Harry first gets there-"

"Sorcerer's Stone. Got it." Aizawa hummed, picking out a thick looking book from the shelf and opening it up, "I'll start from the beginning since I'm pretty sure not everyone has read this series before."

"Who would be so uncultured to not have read Harry Potter?" Mina scoffed.

"Endeavor never let me have any fictions books," Shouto said, and Izuku perked up at the sound of his boyfriend's voice.

"Shouchan-!" 

"Hello, Zuzu-"

"Shhh no gay allowed only magic-" Mina shushed them, "And that's understandable, Shouto."

"Oui, I was not allowed to read such books either by my father," Aoyama admitted sheepishly. 

"Oh my gosh well now we have an obligation to read it, dad dad read iiiiit-" 

"Mina chillax, Papa's still asleep and Dad's trying to find his place. He's old, give him a sec," Shinsou said, resting his head on his elbows.

"Sir you lied to me- Not one but two kids-"

"Shouto I will expel you they're not my kids."

"Sure-" Mina and Shinsou and Shouto said simultaneously. 

"God sometimes I wish I didn't care so much about you all-" Aizawa sighed, "Now quiet down. I'm gonna periodically stop and check on you all so don't be surprised."

"Thanks, Aizawa-Sensei-" Izuku mumbled, his eyes going lidded as Aizawa offered them all a soft smile.


	8. Sovereignty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Class 1-A shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler to be honest-   
> Wanted some fun bonding shit the class would be doing before the beat the shit out of each other

"And so I was talking to her about the side effects of using a quirk like that for so long- Oh Hi Tokoyami and Aoyama!"

"Good Morning, Midoriya," Tokoyami greeted, sitting atop their desk to listen to whatever Midoriya had been talking about.

"Bonjour, my friends!" Aoyama greeted, waving xer hand, "Apologies for interrupting-"

"No worries, haha, I was just finishing up a story about Mina! She had once used her quirk so much that the acid had started eating at her muscles. Luckily and obviously, she's ok, but one has to realize how important it is not to come to quirk exhaustion." Midoriya smiled, leaning back in his seat to grab his notebook from his bag. 

"Tch- I keep telling her not to do that shit but she never fucking listens- How the hell did _you_ get her to?" Bakugo asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I think I maybe made her uncomfortable since I accidentally started crying while explaining it to her-" Midoriya said with a nervous chuckle.

"Ah, when all else fails, use drama!" Aoyama put in with xer signature smile.

"I didn't mean to-"

"But it worked, didn't it?" Tokoyami said, a smile etching its way onto their beak.

"Well- Yeah- But- S-still-"

"The point is that you got her to stop doing stupid shit like that again, so congrats I guess. One less idiot _I_ need to take care of." Bakugo said with a roll of his eyes.

"Awwwe- Come on, mom- you know you love us-" Sero teased, leaning back in his chair and winking at Bakugo.

"Ya know you take up enough space for two idiots so I guess that roster's still full-" Bakugo said snarkily.

"Wow, dude- Therapy's really working for you huh? A few months ago you probably would have whopped my ass for saying that. I'm proud of you," Sero said with a genuine smile.

"I could always whop your ass regardless," Bakugo said, his expression darkening in annoyance even as he swelled on the inside from the praise. 

"Kaachan-"

"Relax, it was just a joke."

Bakugo rolled his eyes, leaning back onto Deku's desk and looking at his notebook to see what the nerd was writing about.

"Starting profiles on the new kids already?" he asked with a smirk.

"Oh wait really-? What have you got so far-?" Sero asked, his interest piqued.

"Ah- Yeah! The Sports Festival is in a few days so I've been working on profiles for them. But since they don't use quirks, I think Error called it Soul Magic instead, it's a tad bit harder for me to analyze since they don't suffer from quirk exhaustion and have more than one ability." Deku explained, pushing his notebook forward so the others could see.

"Oh my- Even the great Deku is stumped? They must be invincible then!" Aoyama joked.

"Haha- no, not invincible. Just stronger. But they obviously have limits. And while I haven't found out all their abilities, I definitely analyzed the few I have. Like Nightmare's tentacles. They're good for long-range and close combat since he can change their lengths and numbers, but he can only focus on about three at once while the others move more on their own. So if he were to focus on all of them, I have no doubt he would grow tired much faster. Or Dream's archery. They have very good aim, almost as if accuracy is a part of their ability, but obviously, archery is only good for long-range. They tend to shy away from close combat so I have a feeling they'd be a bit faster to beat given an up-close battle." Deku rambled, writing as he spoke.

**"My ears are burning, who's talking about me?"**

All of them spun around at the new voice, Deku and Aoyama letting out a little squeak of surprise. Nightmare smirked at all of them, hands in his pockets as he leaned against Sero's desk. 

**"You're pretty insightful, Midoriya. You ever considered training that skill of yours or is it just a hobby?"**

"I know, right! We keep telling him that he should talk with Nedzu! The two are like top IQ!" Sero said with a grin.

"Ah- It's not really a-a skill-"

**"Considering I didn't even realize that I only focus on three at a time and I've trained longer than all of you, I'd say you're pretty talented."**

"Hey- What do you mean longer than all of us- We're the same age-" Bakugo snarked. "But the squid is right, Deku. Stop dismissing it and acknowledge your talent before I kick your ass."

**"Ah- Funny thing is I don't actually know how old I am- Time, where I'm from, kinda just- Gets lost after a bit, and my parents never taught me anyway."** Nightmare shrugged.

"Wait really-?! Is that like a skeleton thing or Is that just a special case for you?" Midoriya asked, completely ignoring Kaachan.

"Pretty sure that's a skeleton thing- None of us know how old we are," Cross shrugged, walking over and leaning against Nightmare.

"Why are you in a high school then-? Shouldn't you be in a training centre or an agency?" Tokoyami asked.

The two shrugged, Cross shutting their eyes.

**"Those Hero Commission bitches set us here and we weren't really looking for a fight so we bit."**

"Huh- That is rather odd-" Aoyama hummed, bringing a hand up to xer mouth.

"Hey, where is everyone else? I'd think everyone would be here by now but I don't see that gravity girl, her glasses friend or even Mrs vice prez." Dust asked as he made his way back to his desk.

"Ah-! Today is a special breakfast day for the students, so odds are everyone is probably still eating. But those of here have either already ate or eaten at home." Midoriya explained.

"Icyhot's down there too. He wanted some of the soba they had, fuckin nerd," Bakugo said, rolling his eyes.

"The school's soba is good, leave him be," Midoriya said, gently bopping Kaachan's arm.

"On the bright side, we are currently free of Mineta so we will savour this time," Aoyama said, clenching xer hands over xer uniform jacket. 

**"Oo? Tea?"**

"Oh yeah- You guys don't know about that shithead yet. Basically, he's a total fucking asswipe. Has fun ogling at the girls and harassing them. One time he used his quirk to stick himself to Momo's back so he could grope her ass. And since no one but him can get those motherfucking grapes unstuck, we had to get Sensei in so he could erase his quirk. God, I want to throw that little shit out of a fucking window-" Bakugo explained.

"Ah, so he's one we should probably avoid, huh-" Cross said, suddenly very aware they were wearing their skirt today and pulling it down to cover their legs uncomfortably. 

"Yeah- And according to new sources, he's also transphobic and homophobic so I highly suggest you avoid him as much as you can." Midoriya said, "Trust me when I say absolutely no one in this class wants him here- But he passed the exam as all of us did, so he's apparently staying."

"You should probably also keep an eye on your twin, Nightmare. Dream was one he was to throw harsh words to first and I do not doubt that pesky little rat brain of his is coming up with some way to 'expose' them," Tokoyami said, a sympathetic expression on their face.

**"Oh hell no. If he comes at my sister I will fucking punt him to Mars. She's already stressing enough with adjusting to the school,"** Nightmare hissed protectively.

"That's what I said! He had the gall to try and call Deku a fag and I swear, all I saw was red. If he and Icyhot weren't there I would have killed him-" Bakugo said, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Ok let's stop talking about him before he hears us and try and think of something better-! Uhm- Cross! How are you doing with all your classes?" Deku asked, offering him a smile.

"Pretty good I'd say. I'm doing well and honestly, I love Present Mic. He's such a character and he reminds me of my nephew." Cross said with a smile.

"Oh? Who, might I ask is your nephew?" Aoyama asked.

"You all remember Compassion?"

"Wait hold up- Wouldn't that- Make you and Error siblings-??" Midoriya asked in confusion.

**"Nope. He and I are married, and Error is pretty much my brother in every sense except blood so we kinda became Compassion's uncles."** Nightmare explained.

"Damn- You all really fuck modern society huh? Couldn't even wait until you graduated?" Sero joked.

"Well back where we're from it was kind of just... Like a third date really. Not like humans have it, with big ceremonies and lots of invites and expensive clothes and shit. Almost like those soul mate tropes you see in fanfiction," Cross explained, playing with the ring on his finger as they spoke.

"I keep forgetting you guys aren't human and probably have whole big cultural differences compared to us-" Tokoyami admitted.

**"Pretty hard to forget but seeing as you have a bird head I'll let it slide,"** Nightmare joked.

"Honest question because I haven't considered it myself, what title do you use for your marriage? Like- Husbands? Husband and Spouse, Husband and Wifband or other?" Aoyama asked.

"I'm fine with Husbands most of the time but sometimes just to piss enby exclusionists off I say Husband and Spouse," Cross smirked.

"Pissing off transphobes is fun sometimes-" Midoriya smiled with a snicker.

Cross smiled with him, closing his eyes and bobbing their head gently to the sound of their tapping foot. The conversation seemed to divert from there, the group seeming to regain interest in Midoriya's analyzation of the new group. Nightmare and Cross took their seats beside Dust and Cross got out their notebook to start doodling. Nightmare seemed to hold attention in the discussion as well so he listened in as the boy listed Dust and Cross's weaknesses and strengths that he had gathered. 

As time carried on, the rest of the class began to filter in, everyone huddling in with their groups and talking among themselves before Aizawa would arrive and begin the class. Dream had smiled when she had noticed Denki's identifier bracelet, beaming that the two had seemed to catch each other on a feminine day. Denki had smiled back, offering the other girl a fist bump before she too sat down in her seat. Even though she didn't have the courage to ask for a skirt for her fem days yet, she still felt a burst of joy every time someone used the right pronouns for her. She had been scared to come out before, but since Dream had on her first day, she had gotten a sudden burst of courage.

Cross had to repress a scowl when he noticed Mineta turned around in his seat, trying to talk to Momo about something the girl was obviously not interested in. Instead of snapping at him though, they instead gently tapped Momo on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hm-? Oh! Hello Cross! Did you need something?"

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I was actually wondering if you could tell me a bit about your quirk? I've gathered a lot about everyone else's but yours is so unique I haven't really been able to identify it-" They said with a smile, purposely diving into a conversation so Mineta would leave her alone.

"Oh! Of course! My quirk is called Creation, and I can transform lipids from my body into whatever I need at the moment. Meaning I need to eat a lot more if I want to make more or bigger objects-" She started to explain, a big smile on her face.

"Oh really? What happens if you try to use your quirk on low body fat?"

"Well, that depends on the situation really-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nightmare, Cross, Dream, Dust, and Error. Stay after class. I need to talk to you," Aizawa says as he comes back into the room, right as the bell signalling lunch had rung.

The five looked to each other and at the rest of their peers' wary faces before heading up to the front of the room. Cross clutched Nightmare's hand tightly, slightly afraid they had already done something wrong as their anxiety started to go wild. Everyone else filtered out of the room, Midoriya giving them one last look of concern before going off with his friends. 

"Before you ask, no, you are not in trouble."

Cross and Dream let out a sigh of relief.

"I wanted to talk to you guys about the Sports Festival," Aizawa started, sitting down at his desk, "Do you guys know what the Sports Festival is for?"

They all shook their heads in a negative.

"This event offers Pro Heros and Agency leaders a chance to look for students they may want to intern for them and gives them a look at who may be joining the ranks of Pro Hero with them. Every year, the different levels of the tournament are completely random, so I couldn't give you any hint of what they may entail. But I can tell you that there are only a few times where teamwork such as you showed when you first arrived would be necessary. It's mostly everyone for themselves."

"Well then I'm finna die-" Dust snorted.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the festival-? Like- Is there anything we may need to know besides the basics?" Dream asked.

"Not really. There's waiting rooms and student stands for those waiting their turn or who were disqualified. You'll be facing off against the rest of the first years as well, so you will be seeing your friends and family to begin with," he paused, "How are you all settling in? To the school, the environment, to Japan."

"Oh-! Uhm- We're doing pretty good! We had a bit of an issue with switching currencies since none of us knew how to convert dollars to yen. But we're alright now! We have a house to stay in and we have food and cleaning supplies," Dream explained.

"The change in mannerism is definitely welcomed compared to America, where we came from. Though some of it is still very new to me, like public bath spaces- But overall I'm ok. Some of us are having trouble with learning the language, even though most of us already know more than two, but we're learning," Cross said quietly.

**"A lACk of nEUroDivERGEncE. ThE EffORt iS aPPrecIAtEd ThOUgh."**

"The school's nice, I guess. You lot of teachers are pretty dope but these kids sometimes remind me why I dropped out when I was younger." Dust admitted.

**"Didn't think I'd like the kids at first, but I admit they're rather amusing. Especially when talking about who will be 'the number one hero'. Aside from that, I'd say we're doing pretty good."**

"It's good that you're settling in alright. Error, let me know if I need to change anything to meet your needs. I will do my own research, but I may miss something. That goes for all of you," Aizawa said, typing away on his laptop and looking up at them.

"Got it, sensei. Is that all you need or can we go eat?" Dust asked.

"No, that's it. Go to lunch."

The group nodded, walking over to the door and heading out to lunch, their bags in tow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nightmare! Hey! Why were you guys held after class?" Kirishima asked as he waved him over.

**"Hey, Kiri. It wasn't anything bad, Teach's just explaining to us what the whole deal about the sports festival is since we didn't have anything like that back in America."**

"Ohhh- You guys lived in America?" Jirou asked in interest.

"Sadly-" Cross chuckled, sitting down next to Nightmare.

**"It's not really anything special if I'm honest. Just super... White-"** Nightmare snorted.

"White-? Like- Snow??" Mina asked in confusion.

"It's an inside joke, sorry- Full of white humans-" Cross said, looking down the table to where Error sat with Lust.

"Oh-? But isn't America's whole thing about how diverse it is?" Kirishima asked.

**"Oh, there's no doubt it's diverse. It's just that- White humans don't like the attention shifted from them for too long otherwise they get violent. But it's slowly eased back where we came from since Monsters started showing up worldwide."**

"It's nothing to dwell on. We've done a lot of talking and personally, I'd like to enjoy my beef wraps so let's just let it slide for now."

"Fair enough- Sorry for asking so many questions-" Sero apologised.

**"Nah, it's cool. I get it. We're new and weird. Besides, I'd rather you ask us upfront than make assumptions."**

"That's so manly-" Kirishima said quietly, his eyes sparkling. 

"Ahaha-!~ So class 1-A couldn't stop collecting students, huh? You had to steal one of our own?!"

Nightmare and Cross turned to the new voice in confusion, not recognising it. Jirou rolled her eyes and turned to face Monoma who had sauntered up to their table.

**"I'm sorry- Who are you?"**

"How-! I'm Neito Monoma! From Class 1-B!"

**"Oh- I am so sorry for you Lust-"** Nightmare snickered, relaxing into his seat.

"Ah, so your new kids have some snark, huh? Make no mistake, 1-A, we will destroy you in the Sports Festival!"

"Ok," Cross said with a shrug.

**"We don't really care, bud."**

"W-we're not looking for a fight-" Dream mumbled.

"What, are you underestimating us?! The nerve-!"

Kendo came up behind Neito, smacking him upside the head and catching him by the collar of his shirt.

"Sorry about him. He's got this weird superiority complex. I hope you're all settling in ok!" She said with a smile, dragging him back to his table.

"... Is... Is he always like that-?" Dream asked, her face scrunched in confusion.

"Sadly. He seems really cool too-! If he wasn't so unmanly we could have been friends!" Kirishima said with a pout. 

"Whatever. He's just pissy about every little thing," Bakugo said with a roll of his eyes. 

"He'll get over it after he hangs out with his boyfriend, watch," Mina snickered.

"Off-topic but did you guys hear the latest buzz of the school outside of the Festival?" Jirou said, leaning on the table and resting her head in her hands. 

"Oh? Tea? Spill it hun-" Denki said, interested as well.

"Turns out the board is considering building dorms for us to stay in. They'll be paid for by the school, and they're only considering it because of the incident a while ago with the League of Villains. Honestly, I'm pumped- I am down not to be alone in my house all the time-" Jirou said, sipping at her milk carton.

"Oh God Yes Please-" Denki sighed, resting her head on the table, "Then we can have movie nights!"

"Sounds pretty good to me too- That means we wouldn't need to worry about our mortgage on our house until we graduate, giving us time to get a stable income-" Dream said with a smile, looking over to Error.

"Wait hold on- You guys pay for your own house?? Do you even have jobs??" Kirishima asked with newfound concern.

"Uh- Well- We don't really have- Jobs per se, but it's ok! We have a good house and Error found a way to transfer our funds from our old estate to this one. Nightmare and Dream were insistent we tap into their inheritance against our concerns-" Cross explained.

**"Cross it was just sitting there catching dust- At least now we can use it for something."**

"Ah- So Nightmare and Dream have joined the rich kids club with Shouto and Momo-" Mina snickered.

"N-not really just-... Yeah- Our mom was the Prime Minister back when we lived in Italy-"

"Oh so you're in the _Really_ Rich Kids Club-" Sero said, his eyes widening.

"Hhhhh- I guess- If the really rich kids club have absentee strict parents-"

"Oh Absolutely-" Momo said, leaning back as she had been sort of eavesdropping, "My parents are super strict with me and mentally manipulative and Shouto's dad is just a straight-up bitch. Welcome to the club."

**"Wow, I feel wanted. It's nice,"** Nightmare joked.

"Apparently I haven't been doing my job well enough- I want a divorce-" Cross joked back.

**"Wait nooo- My darling little criss-cross pleeeeeease-"** Nightmare said dramatically, latching onto Cross and hugging the other close.

"Gay-" Mina snickered.

**"Ok lesbian, shut your mouth-"**

"hEY-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_ Class 1-gAy _ **

** 3:46 p.m. **

**RockNRoll: @*Screaming*** heyyy brooo can u spar w/ me??

**RockNRoll:** u give gr8 pointers and denki's out w/ our bf

**Achoochoo:** fhurekhgur sorry,,, hitoshi kinda kidnapped me as soon as school ended,,,

**RockNRoll:** it's cool! i understand that :D

**RockNRoll:** have fun bb <3

**Achoochoo:** <3

***Screaming*:** Gross

***Screaming*:** but yeah, after I drop off Shouto

**SuperGay:** HOLY FUCK MARK IT DOWN IN HISTORY BAKUBRO NOT ONLY USED TODOROKI'S NAME, BUT HIS F I R S T N A M E

**FlexTape:** CONGRATS BRO I KNEW U COULD DO IT

**RockNRoll:** WHEN'S THE WEDDING CAN I BE THE BEST MAN

**ResidentBitchQueen:** IM THE MAID OF HONOUR

***Screaming*:** I hate you all

**itbelikethat:** :3

**Smallmight:** I'm so proud of u kaachan <3

***Screaming*:** fsjuighrjwng

**TentAnkles:** as someone who used to be the resident angry mom of my friend group, watch as he slowly progresses into a sappy over-affectionate romantic

***Screaming*:** FUCK YOU IM NOT DOING THAT SAPPY SHIT

***Screaming*:** ICY HOT YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS

**itbelikethat:** 3: 

**itbelikethat:** but- but u promised we could cuddle,,,

**Smallmight:** :(( 

**Smallmight** : kaachaaaan pweeeeease

***Screaming*:** FUCK BOTH OF YOU YOU'RE COMING TO MY HOUSE AFTER I SPAR WITH SHITTY HAIR

**RockNRoll:** :DDD

**Smallmight:** :333

**itbelikethat:** ty daddy

**FlexTape:** w A I T _W H A T_

**ResidentBitchQueen: @*Screaming*** AMERICA EGGSPLAIN

**itbelikethat:** *chuckling* I'm in danger :)

**U'llFloatToo:** GUYS I JUST GOT ON WHAT THE F U C K SH O 

**LesbianJesus:** SHOUTO YOU LITTLE MINX

**Smallmight** : fsivfifhvivf I'm shitting Shouchan why

**itbelikethat:** oh? want something better?~

**FlexTape:** I have never been more afraid in my life

**U'llFloatToo:** horny people have no rights

**LesbianJesus:** horny shouto is one to fear

**RockNRoll:** please I am begging you Todo i want him to spar with me not die in a hole of embarrassment

**itbelikethat:** fine but I'm sending it in our pms

**Smallmight:** please shouchan I'm eating dinner with my mom she'll ask questions

**itbelikethat:** alright, fine

**itbelikethat:** can't help it when Stardust asks so nicely

**U'llFloatToo:** _S T A R D U S T ?_

**TentAnkles:** the tea is scalding

**TentAnkles:** anyways I picked up a cat on the way home from school anyone wanna see

**itbelikethat:** kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kit-

**Dadzawa:** are you going to keep it?

***TentAnkles sent a Photo!***

**_*Photo ID: Nightmare gently cradling a small calico cat with one eye stitched up. The cat is black, brown, and white and looks no older than a year*_ **

**TentAnkles:** yeah I think I'm finna name her Saoirse

**TentAnkles:** she so littol,,,

**itbelikethat:** vwkjrjhighwk i wan pet her

**itbelikethat:** littol gorl

**TentAnkles:** she so smol

**Dadzawa** : if you need some supplies for her or recommendations for food, I will be happy to help

**TentAnkles:** teach has cats too?

**ResidentBitchQueen:** dad has 5- he collects cats on a whim-

**TentAnkles** : sweeet

**TentAnkles:** and yeah i'ma take u up on ur offer bc I've never had a cat before- i had a ferret at a time but that was a loooong time ago

**Dadzawa:** I'll dm you some sources and lists

**TentAnkles:** tyyy

**U'llFloatToo:** off-topic i think your friends are joining our cryptid crew Nightmare

**TentAnkles:** lmao yeah I'm the only one who can handle excessive conversation

**TentAnkles:** plus the others are helping each other study and train for the festival

**HippityHoppity:** shouldn't you be working too, then, kerro?

**TentAnkles:** I can't train against the others- I can only train against Error and maybe Dream-

**TentAnkles:** it's not that I don't know how to, it's just- I'm really kinda OP when it comes to combat so I need a proper opponent to actually train with

**U'llFloatToo:** well- who in this class would you say could match you?

**TentAnkles:** uuuuh maybe shouto and tokoyami

**TentAnkles:** Tokoyami i'd actually like to train with since both our power stems from dark areas 

**VoidCreature:** I was summoned 

**TentAnkles:** hello fellow void demon

**VoidCreature:** hello fellow creature of darkness

**HippityHoppity:** now I want to see you two fight-

**U'llFloatToo:** do you think you two could last long enough in the festival to battle in the finals?

**TentAnkles** : bro no one here knows what's finna happen before the finals so I legit have no clue

**VoidCreature:** it's possible but unlikely

**VoidCreature:** also Ojirou says hi

**U'llFloatToo:** why are u and Ojirou together

**VoidCreature:** bc we're on a date

**U'llFloatToo:** wait H U H ?

**U'llFloatToo:** I THOUGHT HE AND TORU WERE DATING????

**VoidCreature:** "Nah, she's my bestie but I'm homoromantic- Plus she's not looking for a relationship" 

**VoidCreature:** you guys are supposed to be observative. we've been dating for like three months

**VoidCreature:** and Shouji's in there too

**HippityHoppity:** if I could feel I would probably be angry that I haven't noticed this

**U'llFloatToo:** IM ANGRY FOR YOU FDBCUVWGRRJNDKJ MY GAYDAR BROKE

**TentAnkles:** the tea is the sun

**Dadzawa** : you all should be working and eating

**ResidentBitchQueen** : _he says, as he immediately goes back to playing animal crossing_

**U'llFloatToo** : OH SHIT CALLED OUT SENSEI

**Dadzawa:** _I'll tell Hitoshi you took his pusheen_

**ResidentBitchQueen:** deufirhgnjveigherk

***ResidentBitchQueen deleted 1 message!***

***Dadzawa deleted 1 message!***

**TentAnkles:** I am working- I'm taking care of Saiorse 

**U'llFloatToo:** ok I'm gonna be the one to say it how the _fuck_ do you say that name

**TentAnkles:** it's Irish, u say it Sear-sha

**U'llFloatToo:** mk thx king

**TentAnkles:** np queen

**TentAnkles:** also where tf did everyone go

**Dadzawa:** probably working

**Dadzawa:** like you should be

**TentAnkles:** ok geez dad fine

**TentAnkles** : if I go make dinner will you stop bullying me

**Dadzawa:** sure

**TentAnkles:** I'm making lasagna and none yall can have it

**Dadzawa:** yall

**U'llFloatToo:** yall

**HippityHoppity:** yall

**~AllThatGlitters~:** ~~~Yall~~~

**FlexTape:** yall

**ResidentBitchQueen:** yall

**SuperGay:** yall

**LesbianJesus:** yall

**Vroom:** yall

**VoidCreature:** yall

**S M A C C :** yall

**NotHentai:** yall

**Smallmight:** yall

***Screaming*:** yall

**itbelikethat:** yall

**RockNRoll:** yall

**TentAnkles:** you bitches really all came online just to harass me

**Smallmight:** pretty much

**TentAnkles:** wow I feel loved

**Vroom:** On a serious note! I would like to ask you all to please head to bed at 9:00 p.m. tonight! It's always good to get good amounts of rest so you can be alert and assertive for the festival! :)

**TentAnkles:** listen, hun, I would love to but I am physically incapable of sleeping

**TentAnkles:** like- me Dream and Error are unable to lay down and shut off our brains

**TentAnkles:** but- we can meditate until morning if that's aight?

**Vroom:** While that does sound rather unfortunate, as long as you can rest your minds so you may be able to be more able while you work, I suppose that is a good substitute :)

**Vroom:** Just please make sure to eat something with carbohydrates and electrolytes to help your health!

***Screaming*:** hey

***Screaming*:** there can only be one appointed health mom friend here and that's me

**Vroom:** I apologise, Bakugo, if it seems I was trying to seize your position. I was merely trying to inform our classmates that they should take care of themselves :(

**Smallmight:** Kaachan look what you did u made Iidad sad :(((

***Screaming*:**...

***Screaming*:** this is a trap

**Vroom:** :(

***Screaming*:** _Fine_

***Screaming*:** I'll let it slide

**Vroom:** :D

**TentAnkles:** wholesome

***Screaming*** : fuck off squid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VroomVroom - Iida  
> HippityHoppity - Tsuyu  
> Achoochoo - Denki  
> Smallmight - Midoriya   
> No/Dadzawa - Aizawa  
> TentAnkles - Nightmare  
> EDtheLine - Cross  
> ImBabie - Dream  
> *Screaming* - Bakugo  
> itbelikethat - Todoroki  
> ~AllThatGlitters~ - Aoyama  
> VoidCreature - Tokoyami  
> SuperGay - Jirou  
> LesbianJesus - Momo  
> FlexTape - Sero  
> U'llFloatToo - Uraraka   
> NotAHentai - Shouji  
> S M A C C - Ojiro   
> Invisibitch<3 - Hagakure   
> SugarDaddy - Satou  
> SIKE - Dust  
> CANCELLED - Error  
> RockNRoll - Kirishima  
> ResidentBitchQueen - Mina  
> !Kouda! - Kouda


	9. Festivities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sports Festival (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pretty much just put Season 2 Episodes 15-16 into words with a few twists (obviously)

"Pay attention Audience!! Swarm Mass Media!!" Present Mic's booming voice carries over the crowd, riling them up.

An eruption of cheers rouses from the audience, their voices carrying all the way back to the waiting rooms inside the lower levels. 

"This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the Yuuei Sports Festival, is about to begin! Everybody! Are you READY?!!" he yells, moving his body dramatically to emphasize what he was hyping them up for.

The crowd roared again, many standing from their seats and pumping their fists in the air in excitement. A quick glance around showed that even some of the Pro Heros in the stands were getting hyped up. The energy here was very erratic, and Mic loved it.

"It's time for the students to enter the first-year stage!!"

From below, a set of heavy-looking doors opened, allowing the light from the field to seep into the hallway. Class 1-A made their way out onto the field, looking up and around at everyone in the stands. Some were nervous, others were pumped, and some honestly just wanted to go home. And even though most of the class were on god terms with each other, no one could deny the thick tension in the air that surrounded them as they looked to the pedestal ahead of them. Uraraka even shot a worried glance to Midoriya, who had a bit of a falling out with his partners a few nights before. 

She hoped that the therapy Bakugo had been doing was enough to keep his aggressive and competitive nature to a more healthy level. Midoriya seemed to feel her glance on his back, turning around to give her a look of silent question. She shook her head, giving him a thumbs up and a smile, hoping to encourage him. He smiled back, mock saluting her before turning back around.

"Anyways, these are the guys, right? The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero Course, Class 1-A!!"

The crowd sounded off once more, signs of all sorts coming from some of the fans they had already gained. Midoriya looked around rapidly at the sheer amount of people gathered at the event and started to shake gently, his eyes wide.

"Th-th-there's so many people-" he mumbled, not being able to help himself as he gravitated to Shouto's side slowly.

"Will we be able to give our best performance being watched by so many people?" Iida asked as he looked out to the crowd, "This is also part of the training required to become a hero." he finished, a looked of determination set on his face.

"Man- He's really going overboard with that praise-" Kirishima said with a nervous smile, "I'm getting nervous! Aren't you, Bakubro?"

"Nah. Just more fired up," Bakugo said plainly, unable to hide the slight excited smile on his face.

"This- Oh boi- That's so many fuckin people-" Dream mumbled to himself, making sure to keep his eyes trained down at the ground as his soul pounded in his chest.

**"Don't worry about it. The more people are here the less to ask questions about us later."** Nightmare shrugged.

"Easy for you to say-" Uraraka huffed.

"They haven't been getting as much airtime, but this class is also full of talent!!" Mic continued, pointing to a different entrance as the other class came out.

"Hero Course, Class 1-B!" 

Tetsutetsu led his class with a fierce gaze set on his face, Ink right behind him looking out at the class with their empty gaze. They had specifically not taken their vials today so they could fight without restraint against anyone, sans Compassion. They looked over to class 1-A, staring blankly at Dream who they could tell was nervous. They didn't get time to dwell on it though, since Lust had come up behind them and pat their shoulder to refocus their attention.

"Next up! General Studies Classes C, D and E!" 

"Support course, Classes F, G and H are here too!!"

"And business course Classes I, J and K!!" 

Mic listed off the courses as they each piled into the field, moving to the centre where a single white platform stood with a lone microphone in the middle. 

"All of Yuuei's first years are here now!"

"We're just here to make those guys look better, huh?" on of the students from class 1-C groaned, looking over to the hero course classes, "I'm not really feeling it-"

Shinsou, who had been listening in, rolled his eyes as he looked over to the hero course. He didn't particularly get along with most of his classmates, but seeing his datemates walking tall and proud in their uniforms reminded him why he was still trying. The edge of his lips twitched up as he watched Denki hurry up to Kirishima's side, taking the other's hand gently. 

His train of thought was interrupted though, as a loud whip sound rung out from the stage.

"Time for the player pledge!" a new voice boomed into the microphone.

"Oh? This year's chief umpire for the first-years is the R-Rated Hero, Midnight?"

"What about the principal-?"

"The principal is at the third-year stage every year."

Kirishima looked up at Midnight with a face of confusion, looking her up and down. He leaned over to Denki to whisper in her ear.

"Yo- Is that Midnight's Hero Costume-?"

"I think so-? I mean- I'm gonna be honest and say I've never seen her in costume before so-" Denki admitted, keeping her eyes away from the _very_ pretty woman on stage.

"Is it ok for her to be at a high school even though she's an R-Rated hero?" Tokoyami asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

"Yes!!" Mineta yelled, ogling at her hero costume with a thumbs up.

"Quiet everyone!!" Midnight yelled, slashing her whip out to the side, "Representing the students is Bakugo Katsuki from Class 1-A!" 

Everyone surrounding Bakugo turned to him in shock, not having expected him to be chosen. But, nonetheless, they cleared out of his way so he could head up to the platform.

"How did I guess-" Cross snickered to themselves. 

"What-? It's Kaachan-?" Midoriya asked, half in awe and half in disbelief. 

Not that he hadn't seen improvement in the other, just that he didn't think the teachers would put him in a position where his old self could come out so very easily. 

"The guy _did_ finish first in the entrance exam," Sero shrugged.

"In the _Hero_ course" a girl in 1-C corrected.

"R-right-" Midoriya said, giving her an apologetic smile.

"It's obvious she hates us-" Sero mumbled.

**"What's got their panties in a twist?"** Nightmare scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Bakubro's trying though. He's gotten way better-" Denki encouraged, looking up to his friend onstage.

Once Bakugo was in front of the mic, he looked around slowly as the stadium went silent. Everyone waited patiently for him to speak, some on the edge of their seats. He shut his eyes, reaching up and turning off his hearing aids so he didn't have to hear their response. 

"I pledge-..." He hesitated.

It would be so easy to just say that he would be number one. To just have that overabundance of confidence and pride he used to have. But as he looked down to Deku and Shouto, he found he couldn't say it. They were so patient with him, and so supportive. All of his friends were. He couldn't fuck that up now. At least, that's what Hound Dog said-

"I pledge that we will rise to the top. And be we, I mean our school," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

His lips twitched up a bit as he saw the bright smile Deku gave him and that Icyhot bastard's rare smile. They must have been cheering or something because thankfully no one tried to put their hands on him when he walked back off the stage.

He tapped his ears as he went back to his place beside Deku and Deku hugged him. Against his back, he could feel the other sign that he was proud of him and he tried his best not to snap back that it was nothing. Instead, he rolled his eyes and let out a small 'tch', shoving his hands back in his pockets after turning his hearing aids back on.

"Now! Let's get started right away!" Midnight announced. 

"Yuuei does everything 'right away' huh?" Uraraka mumbled to Tsu.

"The first game is what you'd call a qualifier! Every year, many drink their tears here!" Midnight continued, slashing her whip again wildly.

"Now, here is the first fateful game!" 

She held her hands up in the air as a screen popped up behind her, showing a sort of gambling like spinner that was going around quickly. 

"This year, it's..."

The spinner stopped, showing a little logo with the words 'Obstacle Race'.

"...This!"

"Oh this is gonna be easy-" Dust said, relaxing his posture and adjusting his hood.

"An obstacle course race-" Midoriya said slowly, biting his lip in concentration as his thoughts ran wild.

"All 11 classes will participate in this race. The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium. About 4 kilometres!" Midnight explained.

She held her whip up again.

"Our school's selling point is freedom! As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do," she said, getting a bit of a sadistic smile on her face.

"Now, take your places, everyone!"

"God I'm not ready for this-" Dream whined as he jogged over to the door in which everyone else was piled near.

**"Relax, Beetle. We probably have it the easiest since we can just go over the crowds. Don't panic. But you also gotta now I'm leaving your ass behind if you can't keep up."**

"As if you could. I may be anxious but like hell I'm being bested by the likes of you," Dream retorted snarkily, using his pride to cover his anxiety.

Nightmare laughed and the two took their positions by everyone else. A quick look around the starting line showed determined faces and anxious ones alike, each one prepping to run. The first bell rang, everyone's posture seeming to stiffen at the realization that this was really about to happen.

As the second one went off, Nightmare caught a quick glance at Midoriya, who was looking back to wear the teacher's booth was settled. From the beginning, Nightmare had a sneaking suspicion Midroiya was getting some type of training from one of the teachers, specifically that All Might character, but he didn't have enough evidence for his theory at the moment. Or enough time to dwell on it. 

The only reason it had registered in his brain that the third buzzer signalling the begin of the course had started was because of the rush of air from Dream taking off behind him. He grinned, watching all of the students make a mad dash for the door. 

Just a moment.

He was waiting. 

"Okay! Here's the play-by-play! Are you ready to do the commentary, Eraserhead?" Mic grinned, nudging Aizawa gently.

"You're the one who forced me to come," Aizawa said with a blank stare.

"Let's get started right away then! What should we pay attention to in the early stages?!"

"This part right here," Aizawa said, watching the students struggle to get through the narrow passageway. 

"Hey, hey!!"

"It's too narrow!!"

"Ouch!"

"Move-!"

Many of the students tried to cram themselves through the crowd, desperately trying to reach the front. Luckily for Nightmare, this gave him the perfect opportunity. He reared back for a moment, focusing his vision on the space above all of them. He could already see the golden glow of Dream's wings as his twin soared over the poor lot. He chuckled, shooting his tentacles out to the sides of the doorway. Then, walking back as much as he could, he catapulted forward. His tentacles letting go of the sides as soon as he was soaring over the rest of the students. He flew over top of them, swinging from one tentacle to the next like Spiderman. 

His eye widened in surprise though and he halted as he nearly slammed into a vault of ice that had protruded up from the ground beneath him. No doubt from that Todoroki kid. He rolled his eye, simply melting into the corner of the roof and slithering through the cracks of the ice.

He smirked as he noticed Dream trying to smash his way through the ice with his bow, but ultimately failing. He didn't have time to check where everyone else was, already knowing they were also stuck in the fray. It had surprised him though when he noticed a familiar set of Blue strings latching onto his ankle before he was yanked back. He let out a grunt as he fell, trying to pull away from Error's grip to catch up to Shouto. Not that Error cared of course, simply saluting him as he ran by. 

A rouse of yells came from the rest of the students who were yelling about how cold the ice was and how it was freezing over, making a chuckle of amusement escape Nightmare's throat. He finally freed himself from the strings, vaulting forward again by his tentacles and bopping Error on the head as he passed him again.

Bakugo let out a yel of determination as he set of a series of explosions, propelling him into the air and over the ice that had threatened to grasp his ankles. He could hear Kirishima and Momo yell from behind him, followed by the familiar buzz of Aoyama's naval laser. 

"Naive, Todoroki!" Momo yelled up to her best friend.

"I won't let you win that easy, Shouto!!" Bakugo yelled as he made an ever bigger explosion. 

Ojirou bounded over the ice with his tail, launching into the air.

"You got me with that once! You won't get me again!"

Tokoyami flew up beside him with a smile, holding on to Dark Shadow securely.

"Woah-! That was close-!" Mina yelled as she slid over the ice with her acid.

"Come on, Todoroki!" Dream groaned as he flew overhead.

"This is a competition, love," Ink shrugged, floating up beside him. 

The rest of their classes struggled, trying their best to make use of their quirks and moves as they scurried over the ice. Cross merely laughed, literally skating over the ice with the blades he had summoned under his shoes. He slithered and weaved in between them all, winking once he passed Midoriya and Mineta who lagged behind.

_'I can't use my special move yet-'_ Midoriya groaned as he thought to himself.

Shinsou took his sweet time, sitting in the cradle of arms that held him up. He had a few of his fellow students carrying him through the crowd, none bothering about ending up first.

' _More people outside of Class A were able to dodge than I thought-_ ' Shouto said to himself as he looked back, still holding the lead.

Though he didn't hold it for long, as Error sped up and by him without a word. Shouto looked to him with shock for a moment before looking back to where Mineta was yelling to him.

"I've outwitted you, Todoroki! How pathetic!" the grape yelled with a sneer," Now, take my special attack-!"

He spun in the air, taking one of the balls off of his head and holding it out to possibly smack Shouto with. Not that he was able to, as he was knocked out of the air by a giant and metal hand.

"Targets found. Lots." a deep and loud robotic voice rang out.

Huge robots surrounded the students, weapons out and ready to fire. Not that they would need them, as their size alone was enough to overwhelm nearly anyone. 

"The faux villains from the entrance exam-?!" Midoriya said with disbelief. 

"Obstacles have shown up suddenly!" Mic announced over the loudspeaker, "Starting with.. The first barrier!!"

Error looked up at the giant robots with scepticism. If he was honest, he could just fuck with the codes to get rid of them, as they appeared to be non-sentient. But this was a competition, and that would make it too easy for the rest of the students. He and Shouto stood in the front, the two still in the lead.

Denki skidded to a stop as she noticed the huge robots and stumbled back.

"Woah-! Aren't those the zero-point villains from the entrance exam-?!" she asked in disbelief. 

"Seriously? The Hero Course had to fight those-?"

"This is what they meant by obstacles-?!"

"There are too many-! I can't get through-!"

"So this is what they used in the general entrance exam," Shouto said blankly, looking up at the looming figure that started to advance towards them. 

**"These guys look mad annoying. Hats off to you who had to beat these things up-"** Nightmare said with annoyance.

"If they went through all this trouble, I wish they would've prepared something better," Shouto started as the air dropped in temperature.

He brought his right hand down to the ground, a huge tremor erupting from it as towers of ice broke through the topsoil. The robotic hand came down, looking to crush Shouto under it's huge mass. He simply looked up at, annoyance painted on his face.

"Since my stupid old man is watching," he grumbled, whipping his right hand up towards the robot.

The pillars of ice grew rapidly, shooting out and up like a tidal wave and hitting the bot full force. As soon as ice touched metal, the robot froze over completely, stopped mid-fall. The mist and fog started to clear from the air as the sun blazed down, Shouto looking up at his work with a blank expression. He didn't get too long to marvel his work though, as a set of bright blue strings shot past his face and latched onto the hand of the bot. 

Error shot up into the air, propelling himself with his strings as he ran up and over the arm of the robot. His boots barely touched the ice covering it, his speed unmatched. He lept off of its back as he reached the top, summoning descending pillars of bones from the ground for him to step down on. He just managed to get in front of Todoroki as the other ran up beside him, clearly astonished he had moved that fast.

"Todoroki from Class A! He attacked and defended in one hit! And Error from Class A took advantage of the attack while Todoroki was distracted! Elegant, both of them!" Mic announced, " Amazing! They're the first ones through! It's, you know, practically unfair!" she smirked, looking to Aizawa with a playful grin. 

"Todoroki's actions were logical and strategic. Error's technique was quick and clean." Aizawa put in.

"As expected from someone who got in through recommendations! They'd never fought them before, but those Robo Infernos couldn't halt their elite moves!" 

Back in the course area, the robots had fallen over from being frozen unbalanced and were backed up by other, smaller bots who were ready to fight. The students hesitated, stepping back as they tried to think of their next moves.

_'Gotta hurry-!!'_ Midoriya urged himself as he looked out at the remaining bots.

_'Come on- This can't be like the entrance exam- We need to move-! Think, Izuku!'_

"Can the golden eggs aiming to be future heroes get through the mass of Robo Infernos?!" Mic yelled excitedly. 

"Hey-! Someone's trapped underneath-!" Someone yelled.

"Shit-! Wouldn't that kill them-?!"

"Will people _die_ at the Sports Festival?!"

The sound of pounding and grinding metal rouse everyone from their scared rambling, and everyone gasped as Kirishima burst through the ice and metal.

"Like I'd die!!" He yelled triumphantly, jumping up out of the hole he had created.

"Kirishima from Class A was underneath! That's crazy-!" Mic yelled.

"That bastard-!" Kirishima yelled angrily, "He timed it on purpose so it'd be right when they fell! If it hadn't been me, someone would have died-!!"

To everyone's surprise, a second banging came from within the bot, and the steely Tetsutetsu burst from within the robot as well, yelling in anger as well.

"That Class A really IS full of bastards!!"

"Tetsutetsu from Class B was also underneath-! _That's crazy-!!_ "

"If it hadn't been me, someone could have died-!" Tetsutetsu yelled as well.

"Our Quirks are pretty much the same-?!" Kirishima yelled in awe and confusion as he ran beside Tetsutetsu over the fallen bot, (manly) tears flowing from his eyes, "I've had a hard enough time standing out as it is-!" 

"Wait you little-!!" Tetsutetsu yelled.

"Hhh Kiri and Tetsu are lucky- They can get through without needing to worry about being crushed-" Denki whined, trying desperately to come up with a plan to catch up to them.

They looked up as a shadow blocked out their vision, eyes widening as they watched Dream and Ink fly overhead of them with no issue. Dream ducked out of the way just in time for Nightmare's tentacle latched onto the bot in front of him, vaulting up into the air beside them.

**"Heya bro-"** he saluted.

"Like hell I'd let you get ahead of me-!!" Bakugo yelled as he used his explosion to propel himself in front of the three, going way faster. 

"Nightmare, Bakugo, and Dream from Class A joined by Ink from Class B! The bottom's blocked, so they go overhead! Clever!"

Sero and Tokoyami made their way up alongside Bakugo, grinning to their friend as they ran behind him. Sero latched himself onto Bakugo's back as the other lept off of the Bot, nearly missing him. Tokoyami simply commanded Dark Shadow to land them on the ground, following closely behind the others.

Up in the teacher's booth, Snipe tilted his head slightly and nodded to himself.

"As expected, most of the group that's gone ahead is from Class A."

All Might gave an affirming nod, looking back out to the students with a small smile. 

"Class B and the other courses aren't bad, either! It's just..."

"...Class A doesn't spend a lot of time standing around," Aizawa said to Mic, who had asked him what his secret was.

Iida ran through the bots, kicking one of the ones in his way with his powerful roundhouse. Jirou followed up behind him, shorting out the electronics in the bots with her jacks and running through them. Denki followed closely on their tail, doing her best to not use too much of her quirk as she shorted out the infernos as well.

"Those who experience firsthand the world above them through the USJ incident, those who had fear planted in their hearts, those who dealt with it and pulled through, they all used that experience to drown out their hesitation," Aizawa explained, watching as his students powered through the bots and use their skills to work around their disadvantages.

_'I can't rely on One for All this early in the competition-!'_ Midoriya reminded himself, jumping out of te way of an oncoming attack from a smaller inferno.

Something caught his eye as he was airborne and he turned his head to observe it. His eyes widened as he looked to the broken piece of armour that lay abandoned on the ground.

_'It's the armour of the one Shouchan defeated!'_

He landed quickly, skidding over to te piece and lugging it into his grip. He grunted as the broken bits scratched against his chest, biting his tongue and continuing forward. 

_'That robot will lock onto the target and track it. I'll make it build up momentum and then...-'_

Midoriya spun around and slammed the armour into the robot's weapon just as it went to attack him, making it fall over.

_'It won't be able to stop suddenly-!'_ He finished in his head.

_'Move! Move!'_

Midoriya barely had any time to move before his vision was blinded by a giant cloud of dust blocking out the light. He dropped the piece in his hands so he could protect his eyes, squeezing them shut as he tried to move forward.

"W-what-?! What the hell-?!"

Dust merely looked down at him from where he hung suspended in the air by the dustbowl, ripping through them all like a tornado on the prairie. Midoriya immediately picked the piece of armour back up when he could see again, pushing himself to run forward with the heavy mass in his arms.

_'This can be a shield too! It's useful!_ '

He halted abruptly as the loud echo of gunshots rang throughout the course, the thud and tremor that followed signalling who they had been aimed at. Midoriya looked up in astonishment as he noticed Mom in the front of the group, creating the last bits of ammo for the machine gun she had created to take down the zero-pointers. 

"Piece of cake-" She said, more to herself than anyone as she ran forward, wreaking havoc on the bots in her path.

"She defeated those zero-point villains so easily?"

"No wonder she got in through recommendations!"

"During the entrance exam, they were there to be avoided. If you see them as things to be defeated, they're dumb hunks of metal. You'll start to see openings." Aizawa said, looking out tiredly at the crowd. 

"Hey hey! The first barrier's a piece of cake?!" Mic yelled, standing in her spot and pointing dramatically at the crowd. "Then what about the second?! If you don't want to fall, then crawl!" 

The camera bots zoomed out to give the crowd a clear vision of the next obstacle. The field was set out to be a sort of canyon, with pillars of stone and rock connected by thin metal wires over to the other side. Everyone halted to a stop as they looked over the edge, the fall looked rather intimidating.

"It's 'The Fall'!" Mic announced.

"When did they build this stage-?" Uraraka asked in slight disbelief.

Tsuyu made her way to the front of the rest of the group, jumping out without hesitation and latching onto the wire.

"This is like a glorified tight-rope," she said matter-of-factly.

"Woah-! She's fast-!" Mina said nervously.

Ahead of them, Error slid overtop over his strings like ice, deciding to not utilize his flight since he figured it'd be unfair. It seemed his friends thought so too, as he didn't see the golden glow of Dream's wings or Ink's trailing signature scarf. He looked back to where Shouto was following behind him, yet rather slowly. He hummed to himself, looking forward again and jumping off the end of his line as he reached the safe plot. 

~~~~~ _(Welcome to I highly dislike the second barrier so I don't know how to write it thank you)_ ~~~~~~~

"And now we've quickly arrived at the final barrier! And the reality is..."

The camera panned out to show the entirety of the last obstacle of the course.

"It's a minefield!" Mic said excitedly, "It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully! So you have to exploit your eyes and legs!"

Mic wagged his finger as he clarified, "By the way, these landmines are for games, so they aren't that powerful, but they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"

"That depends on the person," Aizawa added in.

_'First place is already there-?!'_ Midoriya thought to himself, ' _Faster-! **Faster** -!'_

_'I see-'_ Shouto thought to himself as he carefully but quickly made his way over the field, _'This is designed to put those in first place at a disadvantage. Trying to make it entertaining?'_

He could only look up helplessly and watch as Error bounded over them, leaping from bone to bone that rose high in the air with no care in the world.

"Error from Class A is ahead of Todoroki by a longshot, taking to the skies and out the range! What an interesting quirk he has, ah?!" Mic yelled, clapping her hands.

"Error seems to be the one with the most on-hand experience, speeding through each course much akin to a pro," Aizawa acknowledged, "His strategy and execution would make him good in both underground or daybreak training."

Bakugo let out an angered shout as he shot himself forward with his explosions, ploughing through the groups like a crazed bull. He came up beside Shouto, delivering a large explosion to his face to slow him down that Shouto just barely missed. 

"We have two gold stars fighting for second place! This is getting interesting, folks! Rejoice mass media! This is the kind of development you love!"

Mic looked up at the screen as it started lighting up with more explosions and grinned.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! The rest of the pack are catching up! However! Even as they push and pull at each other, can the two at the top stay in the lead?!"

Midoriya halted in his place, his face hardening as he looked out at the field ahead of him and observed everyone's positions. He could see Error in the front, Kaachan and Shouchan close behind him, along with Ink and Dream coming up fast. Everyone else was stuck in a flurry of explosions, madness and chaos.

' _It's... It's far-'_ He thought to himself, bringing the shield up over his head, ' _But there's still stuff I have to do-!'_

He ran forward, shield out in front of him as a look of determination painted his features.

"I'm gonna borrow your idea, Kaachan-!" He yelled, jumping forward with the shield under him onto a landmine.

A huge and bright explosion rang out, it's sheer size and light making everyone hesitate. The force of the wind made the people closest to it fall over and onto other mines, only increasing its size as it expanded.

"What was that huge explosion?!" 

They all looked up as Midoriya came shooting through the smoke, high in the air on his shield with a look of exhilaration on his face.

"Class A's Midoriya is in hot pursuit with that blast!"

Bakugo and Todorki watched with astonishment as Midoriya flew overhead of both of them, taking their place in second. 

"Actually, he's in second! Watch your tail, Error! Midoriya's coming in hot!"

Midoriya's heart nearly stopped as he realized just what he was about to smash into, doing his best to bring his shield up so the bottom hit the blunt of the bone. The impacting sound of metal on bone nearly stunned Midoriya, and what shocked him, even more, was the widening of Error's eyes as he stumbled and fell from atop his place.

"Midoriya has taken the lead, knocking out Error's seemingly flawless strategy with brute force!"

Error tried his best to recover, landing swiftly on his feet and speeding off without a care, but Midoriya was too far ahead for him to catch without flight. So, he gave up, staying behind him as he took first place instead of them. It's not like they couldn't win it back anyway. Looking behind him, he noticed that Bakugo and Todoroki had stopped trying to slow each other down, instead now focusing on getting ahead.

A pang of mischief lit in his soul, and Error smirked, he spun around, flinging his hands out to his sides and crossing them over his chest in a quick motion. With alarming speed, bright blue strings tangled themselves up in between the treelines, effectively making a sort of spiderweb to trap its prey. Error laughed and turned back around securing his and Midoriya's places in the course.

"Amazing! Error has made a wall of strings to block the path of his fellow students!! Your class is amazing Eraser! What are you teaching these kids?!"

"I didn't do anything," Aizawa denied, "They got each other fired up on their own."

Shouto let out a huff of annoyance, looking to Bakugo and sharing a look before the two of them nodded.

'Temporary Truce'

Todoroki's right arm shot out, freezing the lines of strings in front of them and the ground below them so they needn't worry about the mines. Bakugo shot forward, bringing his hands out in front of his as he exploded the ice, shattering the frozen strings like glass and almost creating a smokescreen from all the fog. He slipped last minute though, roaring out of frustration as Shouto ran out in front of him, securing third.

"Yuuei Sports Festival, first-year stage! Not listening?! Who could have predicted the developments at the beginning or this conclusion?! Right now, the first person back in the stadium is that boy-!"

Confetti fell from above him as he ran through the door again, panting heavily with his face flushed from over-exertion.

"Izuku Midoriya's made a huge splash! "

The crowd went wild, cheering and chanting alike rising from within them as they cheered him on, the sound nearly deafening. But from outside, the pros who had gathered to guard the festival turned back to the screens as the winner was announced.

"Hey- That kid's..."Death Arms started, squinting as he tried to think of where he had seen that face before.

"Oh yeah, he's from last year." Woods finished, looking to the screen as well.

Izuku looked up and around the stands, looking for All Might to see if the older man had seen him win. When the two looked eyes, Midoriya gave him a big and proud grin, holding a thumbs up to him. All Might smiled back, returning the gesture with matched pride for his young apprentice. 

Midoriya spun around as he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to face the towering figure of Error.

_**'Congratulations, little one,'**_ they signed, offering him a smile.

"Thanks Error-! Are you ok, by the way-? Sorry for knocking you over just-"

**_'Don't worry. It's a competition, Minty.'_** Error brushed off, stretching out his arms.

"And now they're finishing up, one after another! We'll make a list of the results later, but for now, good work!" Mic announced, holding a thumbs up to the camera.

Bakugo's fingers clenched over his knees as he stood hunched over. He was trying so hard to fight off his anger, his eyes clenched shut as he stood up straight to cover them with his hands. 

Why was this so fucking hard?!

He's Bakugo Katsuki! Nothing can stop him!

So why is this burning hatred so hard to fend off?!

"Kaachan-?"

The soft concerned voice interrupted his thought process, and he whipped around to face that damn Deku.

" _What_." he hissed.

"Kaachan..." Deku said again, quieter this time.

He looked around at the crowd, knowing Kaachan would surely explode if he asked out here, so he instead merely signed for the other to wait for him. Kaachan gave a low growl, but no protest, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the ground. Deku gave him a soft smile, looking back up as he walked towards the stage.

Cross walked through the rest of the tired-looking group smirking triumphantly as they made their way over to their partner. Nightmare looked rather annoyed he didn't end up in the top three, but nonetheless smiled when he noticed Cross.

**"Heya cupcake. You make it out alright?"**

"For the most part. I did alright in the beginning and middle, but that explosion Midoriya did at the end threw me the fuck off-" they laughed, "He's something else."

**"Well, at least we made it through."** Nightmare shrugged.

"Uncle Nightmare-!!" 

Nightmare turned just in time to catch Compassion who had jumped into him with a giggle.

"We made it!"

**"Congrats lil buddy. Your papa make it?"**

"Ah- No- He and Uncle Dust stayed behind so I could make it-"

**"Awwwe. Well I'm glad you made it, Compassion."**

"Everyone quiet down! Here are the results!" Midnight shouted from the stage.

_1st: A, Izuku Midoriya_

_2nd: A, Error CQ_

_3rd: A, Shouto Todoroki & A, Katsuki Bakugo_

_4th: A, Nightmare Joku_

_5th: B, Ibara Shiozaki_

_6th: B, Ink Comyet_

_7th: A, Dream Joku_

_8th: A, Tenya Iida_

_9th: B, Juzo Honenuki_

_10th: A, Fumikage Tokoyami_

_11th: A, Eijirou Kirishima & A, Hanta Sero_

_12th: B, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu_

_13th: A, Mashirao Ojirou_

_14th: B, Yosetsu Awase_

_15th: A, Tsuyu Asui_

_16th: A, Rikido Sato_

_17th: A, Mezo Shouji_

_18th: A, Ochaco Uraraka_

_19th: A, Momo Yaoyorozu_

_20th: B, Compassion Cua_

_21st: A, Mina Ashido_

_22nd: A, Kouji Kouda_

_23rd: A, Kyoka Jirou_

_24th: B, Sen Kaibara_

_25th: B, Kosei Tsuburaba_

_26th: A, Denki Kaminari_

_27th: B, Kojirou Bondo_

_28th: C, Hitoshi Shinsou_

A majority of Class A and B made it through to the next round, save for Mineta, Yanagi, Lust, Dust, and a few others. Even that support student, Mei, had managed to qualify. What had shocked everyone was that someone from the general studies, class C, had managed a pretty decent place, and was the only one in his class. 

"The top 42 made it into the next round!" Midnight announced, "It's unfortunate, but don't worry even if you didn't make it! We've prepared other chances for you to shine."

Midnight licked her lips as she held out her hand.

"The real competition begins next! The press cavalry'll be all over it! Give it your all!"

She held up her whip as the screen showed up behind her once more.

"Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be?" she teased, grinning out at the students. 

"I just said, and now here it is!"

The spinner stopped spinning, the logo reading 'Cavalry Battle.'

"A cavalry battle-? I'm bad at those-" Denki said, her voice nervous.

"It's not an individual event, so I wonder how it'll work," Tsuyu wondered aloud.

**"You all have some weird as shit sports, not gonna lie-"**

"Nightmare-!"

**"Just saying-"**

"Let me explain," Midnight started, "The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing that's different is... Based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value."

"A point-based system just like the exam, huh-" Satou said, flexing his fingers anxiously, "That' easy to understand."

"In other words, each team is worth different points depending on who's on the team-!" Uraraka said, thinking aloud.

"I see-!" Mina said in understanding. 

"You guys don't hold back even when I'm talking, huh?!" Midnight yelled, whipping her whip down to get their attention, "But yes, that's right! And the points assigned go up by five, starting from the bottom. So 42nd place has 5 points, and 41st has 10!"

"And the point value assigned to 1st place is... 10 million-!"

Midoriya blinked in disbelief before the horrifying realization set in.

"T-ten million-?!"

"In other words, if you take down the first place player's team, you can stand at the top no matter what place you're in!" Midnight said, that sadistic grin reaching her face again.

Midoriya looked down at the ground as his heart pounded in his chest, threatening to burst out. The gazes of his fellow students suddenly felt like needles, pricking his skin and causing him to shiver from the sheer amount of pressure. The realization of just how much this hung over his head now was enough to make him regret coming to school today.

"That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!"


	10. Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sports Festival (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations, we're now all caught up  
> Now you're gonna need to wait a bit for me to finish writing the next few chapters

"Now then! I will explain the rules of the Calvary Battle!" Midnight started, pointing up to the screen behind her, "The time limit is 15 minutes. Each team is worth the total of its member's points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try and grab each other's headbands until the time runs out, and try to keep as many points as they can."

Shinsou grinned from his place in the crowd. This would be easy.

"Stolen headband must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it will be to manage them! And the most important thing is that even if your headband gets stolen, or if your team falls, you're not out!"

"Which means..." Momo started, mumbling to herself as she tried to think.

"Since there are 42 people, there will be ten or twelve teams on the field the whole time?" Satou finished her thought.

"That's tough-" Aoyama said nervously.

"One strategy could be to let someone take your points first so you could be more free-" Mina thought out loud, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"It's hard to say without seeing how all the points end up getting split up, Mina," Tsu put in.

"Considering where you would stand if you were to get the 10 million points, I honestly think it would be best to just try and stay in second or third," Cross said, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"During the game, it'll be a cruel fight where you can use your quirks. But it is still a cavalry battle. You'll get a red card for attacks that are trying to make people fall over on purpose! You'll be removed immediately!"

"Damn-" someone said in the crowd.

"Now, you have 15 minutes to build your teams. Start!"

Midoriya bit his lip uncomfortably as he stared down at the ground, trying to think of who would possibly want to be one his team that would also help him. It was a hard drawl since he knew most of his friends were better with attacking than defending, and having the 10 million hanging over their heads would just put them on constant defence.

_'Think, Izuku-!'_

From the Staff Break Room outside of the stadium, Death Arms looked to the TV screen with a calculating look, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"The Yuuei sports festival is more about simulating the competition they'll face as heroes than seeing how prepared they are to be heroes," He said to no one in particular, blowing smoke out through his nose.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Woods asked.

"In a world crowded by hero agencies, in order to put food on the table, there are times where you have to kick down others to show your stuff," he explained.

"That was what the obstacle course in the qualifier was, right?" Woods asked.

"Doesn't that just pain your heart?" Mt Lady complained, waving away the smoke that had come in her direction with a look of disgust on her face.

"You little--" Woods started, a disbelieving look on his face, "You did that quite gleefully, remember?" he ridiculed, recalling the time Mt Lady had taken the credit for a villain he had a handle on.

"On the other hand," Death Arms started again, blowing smoke from his mouth, "even if you're business rivals, there are many cases where you have to work together."

"Oh-! That's just like the cavalry battle!" Mt Lady put in, finally understanding Death Arms' point, "If you win, your teammates also win. You have to think about compatibility and other peoples' quirks... It's a give and take situation..."

"Coordinating with your sidekick and joint Quirk training with other agencies.." Woods went on, a look of betrayal on his face when he brought his water bottle up to his face only to remember he can't drink it-

"The kids are doing stuff now that will be their way of life after they become pros." Death Arms hummed, looking back over to the TV.

"They've got it rough," Mt Lady sighed.

On the field, the students were all huddling around the top finishers to try and see if they could team up with them. Which, much to Error's dismay, included him.

"Error-! Team up with me-!" Satou said, a determined smile on his face.

"Ha-? Error, team up with me too-!" Denki said in protest.

"Don't you want to team up with me-?" Aoyama asked weakly, clutching xer stomach weakly as xe tried to cope with xer stomachache.

Error looked around at them all, examining his classmates and fellow students slowly as he pulled up their information in his head. He was trying to check who he would be most compatible within the moment. Eventually, they shook their head, holding up their hands.

**"nO."**

"Awwwe- Ok-" Denki said with a pout, walking away when she realized he was serious.

He watched them all disperse as he dismissed them, looking around the rest of the field. He noticed that Midoriya was still standing there idly, looking to have no partners yet. Checking his stats real quick, he nodded to themselves as they walked over to him. Midoriya nearly whipped his head up when he recognised someone walked over to him, his eyes widening as he realized just who it was.

**_'Hey, Mint Tea. Anyone has grouped up with you yet?_** ' he signed in question.

"A-ah- No-! But- Are- Are you sure you'd want to partner with me-? You'd probably be on d-defence most of the time-"

**_'I prefer it that way. Offence is a strong suit, but defence is favoured.'_** they dismissed.

"Oh- Really-? A-as long as you're sure-!" Midoriya said with a smile, the tears in his eyes betraying his true excitement.

Error nodded, looking up and around at the rest of the students to see who else would be compatible (and willing) to work with them.

From above, All Might watched how the students interacted with each other, humming as he observed Error's situation.

"His personality is rather hard to read, because of how little he speaks, but he is clearly very strong. Having ended up in second place and getting in via recommendations, it makes sense that he would be popular regardless," he thought out loud, "But I'm surprised he turned them all down. Wouldn't he rather seize the 10 million instead of trying to defend it?"

The students had mostly already decided their teams, Bakugo sticking with his regular squad, Shouto deciding his team more slowly because of his perfectionism, some of the other students sticking with their friends as well. Midoriya looked around helplessly as everyone he asked had turned him down. He was starting to get discouraged, even though having Error on his team reassured him a bit.

"Dekuuu-!"

Both Midoriya and Error turned when they heard the familiar voice, being greeted with the bright smile of none other than Uraraka.

"Let's team up!" she said happily.

Midoriya promptly burst into tears, cradling himself like he would fall over. Error's face scrunched up in slight concern and they awkwardly patted his back to try and reassure him.

"Uraraka! I-Is it really ok-?" he asked, his voice cracking dramatically, "E-everyone'll probably be after me b-because of my 10 million points-!"

"If we run the whole time, you'll win, right?" she asked, no doubt in her tone.

"I-i think you're overestimating me-" Midoriya said hesitantly.

"Like I would-!" She brushed off, smiling brightly, "Anyway, it's better to team up with people you get along with!"

Midoriya stopped crying, his face flushing with colour as he held a hand over his chest and looked away, trying to get control of himself.

"What's the matter-?" Uraraka asked, worried she said something wrong.

"O-oh- Nothing... It's just that- You're so bright I can't look right at you-"

"Oh hush you big pushover-" Uraraka huffed, rolling her eyes at her best friend.

"Actually-! I wanted to team up with you too, thank you-! For teams, it's best to be with people you can communicate with smoothly, right?"

"Yup!"

"Actually... With your quirk and Error's power, I've thought of a plan-! I just... Need one more person..."

Error tapped Midoriya's shoulder to get his attention, and the greenette turned to him with a confused expression.

"Hm? What is it, Error?"

Error merely turned around, pointing in the direction of a specific student.

' ** _Why not them?'_** they signed.

Midoriya followed his line of sight, trying to figure out who Error was pointing at. His eyes widened as he realized and looked up to Error with a bright smile.

"You're a genius, Error-!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Now then! It's about time to get started!" Midnight announced, as their team time ended.

"Come on Eraser, wake up-!" Mic urged his sleeping husband.

Aizawa groggily opened his eyes, looking over at Hizashi with a tired expression. Hizashi only smiled at him before turning back to the microphone.

"After 15 minutes to form teams and talk strategy, twelve cavalry teams are lined up on the field!"

"There are some interesting teams out there," Aizawa put in, leaning closer to see better.

"Now, raise those battle cries! It's time for Yuuei's bloody battle! Light the signal fire!" Mic said, hyping up the crowd even more.

Midoriya pursed his lips as he secured the headband around his head, shifting his weight so his teammates weren't shouldering too much of him.

"Uraraka, Error, Tokoyami," he said, his voice shaky, "I'm counting on you-!"

Error smiled up at him, rolling his eyes and prepping himself to run when the buzzer went off.

Shouto looked over to them as his team prepared to fight, a deep-set frown finding its way onto his face. Dream took notice from below, gently tapping his shoulder with one of his tendrils.

"Shouto, are you ok?" he asked softly.

"Fine. You all know your positions, right?" he replied, changing the subject.

"Ah- Yeah! I'm left-flank, fending off enemies with my fire." Dream confirmed.

"I'm right-flank, assisting mobility and protection," Momo stated.

"And I'm mobility, making sure to regulate our speed!" Iida said with enthusiasm.

"Good. You know what to do when the time comes. Just make sure to pay attention," Shouto said, glaring up at his father for extra measure.

He had partly chosen Dream for his team out of spite, hoping to make his father think that was his fire he was using when it was actually the skeleton's. Though he also knew Dream was much more useful than just to spite his old man.

The crowd howled with excitement as the countdown began, whistles and cheers sounding like nothing more than white noise to those on the field.

"All right! You've made your teams, right? I'm not gonna ask if you're ready or not, haha!" Mic spoke, leaning in close so he could rest his weight on the desk, "Now let's go! Counting down to the brutal battle royale!"

"Tetsutetsu," Monoma began, looking over to his classmate, "No hard feelings, alright?"

"Yeah-!" Tetsutetsu replied, a wild look set on his face.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Start!" Midnight announced, holding out her whip with a grin on her face.

Everyone seemed to move at once, feet pounding against the dirt as 11 teams all headed towards their common target: Team Midoriya. Midoriya looked out at the different teams, a wave of doubt washing over him before he pushed it down with determination.

"It's basically a battle for the 10 million points!" Tetsutetsu yelled as he charged forward.

"Midoriya! I'll take that!" Toru shouted as her team ran towards him.

"An attack without delay, huh..." Tokoyami stated, their eyes darting in every direction as they awaited instruction, "The fate of the pursued. Make your choice, Midoriya!"

"Of c-course-! Our move is to run away-!" Midoriya shouted.

"I won't let you-!" Tetsutetsu yelled, pointing to him, "Juzo-!"

"Got it!" Juzo yelled back, activating his quirk.

Uraraka and Tokoyami let out a startled sound as the ground beneath them softened, their feet seeming to sink into it as if it were mud. Error looked around as well, his mind racing a mile a minute as he tried to thinking of a way out of this.

"What is this-?! We're sinking-?!" Midoriya said with surprise, "That person's quirk, huh-?"

"It's no good- I can't get out-!" Uraraka said, slightly panicked.

"Error-!"

**"gOt IT."**

Error shut his eyes quickly, focusing his hold on his team's souls. Once he was sure he had them all, he opened his eyes again and lifted them all into the air, ripping them from the grasp of the softening earth beneath them.

"He flew-?!" Tetsutetsu said with anger, "How?! Follow them!"

"Jirou-!" Toru said with panic.

"I know-!" Jirou yelled back, sending her ear jacks up after them to try and stun them.

She didn't get the chance to reach them though, as Dark Shadow came roaring back towards her and knocked the jacks out of the way.

"Ah-! Tokoyami!" Jirou said with frustration.

"Good-! Dark Shadow, keep watch over our blind spots-!"

_ "Got it-!" _

"Wow-! That's so cool-!" Midoriya praised, stars glimmering in his eyes as he looked to Tokoyami with admiration, "The defence we were lacking, You're more than making up for it with your omnidirectional mid-range defence! That's amazing Tokoyami!"

"You're the one who chose me," Tokoyami brushed off, a smile finding its way onto their face nonetheless.

**"wE'rE LAnDIng."** Error warned them as he carefully set them all down to the ground once more.

_'Making everyone other than Uraraka weightless, so our weight is just the equipment plus Uraraka and clothes,'_ Midoriya thought to himself, giddy that his plan was working so well.

"Your power is especially helpful for going airborne, Error! If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know more about how it works when this is all over! It's really interesting!" Midoriya said, nearly vibrating with excitement over his friends.

**"sUrE."** Error said, giving Midoriya a small smile in thanks.

"We're going after them too! Come on Jirou, time to get revenge!" Toru urged, waving her arms angrily.

"Hey wait-! Hagakure! Your headband's gone!" Satou said with alarm, noticing the invisible girl's lack of indication.

"... When did that happen?!" She yelled with frustration.

Monoma chuckled as he twirled Toru's missing headband on his finger.

"Profiting while others fight," he said snarkily.

"Now then! Even though barely two minutes have passed since we started, It's already turned into a free-for-all!" Mic declared over the loudspeaker, "Fights over the headbands are breaking out all over! Ignoring the 10 million and going for second to fourth isn't bad, either!"

Shouji sped towards Midoriya's team at full speed, his latter arms raised in a protective dome that looked like flared wings.

"Fighting? No. This... Is a one-sided pillage-!"

"Shouji-? By himself-? But- It's a team battle-!"

"Midoriya. Let's put some space between us for now," Tokoyami urged, keeping an eye on Tetsutetsu's advancing team, "We can't be caught standing still against multiple opponents!"

They move to go forward, but Uraraka cries out in surprise and pain as she realizes she's stuck. She looks down in panic and finds a white knife lodged in her boot.

"I- I'm stuck-!"

"Huh-? Cross's knife-? But- From where-?!" Midoriya calls out, looking around in newfound panic.

"Over here Midoriya!" Shouji calls out.

Midoriya turns back to his classmate and is shocked to see a pair of blood-red eyes glimmering from behind Shouji's arms, a mischievous grin accompanying it.

"Cross-?! Is that allowed-?!"

"It is!" Midnight clarifies.

Cross laughs maniacally, launching off a hoard more of white knives towards them just as a long pink tongue shot out from behind as well.

"T-tsu's there too?!"

"Hello, kerro-" Tsu called out before promptly sending her tongue back out, forcing Midoriya to duck.

"Team Cross makes use of the overwhelming difference in their sizes! They're like a tank!" Mic declares.

"Midoriya! Get away-!" Tokoyami yells as he dodges another knife.

"E-Error-!"

**"oN iT."**

After making sure the knife was freed from Uraraka's boot, Error had them airborne again, looking around wildly to make sure they weren't in the path of any more projectiles. He turned to look behind him as the sound of an explosion sounded from behind them, his eyes widening as he saw Bakugo in the air as well. The other had a grin on his face, adrenaline fueling his impulse.

"You can't away that easy you damn Deku-!" He yelled rearing his arm back to deliver an explosion to his face.

"Tokoyami-!" Midoriya yelled, panic settling in his gut and slithering up his throat.

Dark Shadow rushed in front of them all, enlargening himself just in time to take the full force of the blast. He screeched out in pain, an unearthly sound really, but it was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd.

"Whaa?! He's gotten separated from his teammates! What's with this guy?!" Mic said, standing up in her seat in disbelief, "Is that ok?!"

Bakugo shot down towards the ground as Sero wrapped his midsection with his tape, reeling him back in.

"Nice catch-!" Kirishima said, watching to make sure they caught him.

"It's a technicality so it's ok!" Midnight said as the group caught Bakugo before he fell.

"It wouldn't have been if he had touched the ground, though!" she clarified.

Error grunted as they hit the ground, hissing at the pain in his sensitive eyes.

"Thanks, Error and Uraraka-!"

**"exPlOsION hURt mY EyES. GiVE mE A SeCoND."**

"Hah-?! You have sensitive eyes, Error-?"

**"yEah."**

_'We can't run to the air anymore with the risk of Kaachan following us-'_ Midoriya thought to himself, _'We need to rely on Uraraka's Zero Gravity to keep up our mobility and Tokoyami's Dark Shadow-'_

"As expected, everyone's after the first-place team, and Class A is in hot pursuit!" Mic commented, "Everyone's got skills-!"

"Those Class A guys are good," Death Arms said with a chuckle.

"With all those flashy moves, even just watching is fun! There's this much difference jus from their experience fighting villains!"

"Now! Let's take a look at each team's points... It's been seven minutes! Here are the current rankings up on the screen!"

The screens around the stadium changed, displaying the leaderboard with the teams organized by rank and colour.

"Huh? It's kinda..."

"What-? Wait a minute! Other than Midoriya, Class A is not doing too well..." Mic speculated, looking to the scoreboard with disbelief.

Bakugo's eyes widened in surprise as his headband was snatched from his head, near-god whipping around to see who the hell dared to try and take his victory.

"Class A is too simple-minded-" Monoma chuckled, adding Bakugo's headband to his growing collection.

"He got us-!" Mina said with disbelief.

"What'd you say,Bastard-?!" Bakugo snarled, "Give that back! I'll deck you!"

"Since Midnight said it was the _first_ game, it wouldn't make sense for them to cut a lot of people in the qualifier, right?" Monoma asked, his face smug.

Bakugo only growled at him, clenching his fists as he tried to control himself.

Assuming they'd keep about forty people for the next stage, we just made sure we stayed within that number as we ran. Observing from the back the quirks and personalities of those who would be our rivals. There's no point in obsessing over winning in the prelims, right?" he said, chuckling to himself in amusement.

"You did this as a class?" Bakugo asked, not able to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Well, it wasn't a consensus, but it was a good idea, right? It's better than going after a temporary 'top' like a horse with a carrot in front of its face. Oh! And while I'm at it, you're famous, aren't you?"

Bakugo froze, his eyes widening in the slightest and his lips twitching down. He had just gotten around to dealing with that, and this kid was going to fuck it all up again.

"As the victim from the sludge incident! Tell me about it sometime- How it feels to be attacked by villains once a year," Monoma nagged, a sadistic smile set on his face.

Kirishima scowled at Monoma, not at all happy with him. Poking fun at someone's trauma wasn't manly! Bakubro was really hurt by that! He looked up to Bakugo as the other tapped on his shoulder. He flinched as he noticed the other's glazed over angry eyes looking down at him.

"Kirishima. Change of plans."

Kirishima could only sigh in resolve as he looked back over to Monoma. The other boy had fucked up.

"Before we get Deku, we're fucking schooling these bastards," Bakugo growled out, his voice strained as he tried to keep his emotions under control.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cross looked around in panic as they realized they had lost their headband, hoping they had just dropped it or something.

"I had agreed to join your team because your plan was actually solid, even though I don't know you too well. When did you lose your headband?" Tsuyu asked, watching the skeleton struggle with her usual blank expression.

"I don't know-! I thought it'd be near impossible to get with Shouji's quirk but I don't know what happened-!" Cross groaned, letting his arms fall to his sides in defeat.

"Nonetheless, Cross, now we have nothing left to lose. Should I release my hold?" Shouji asked.

"Yeah- Just- We gotta get points from the top teams if we want to at least make it to fourth place," Cross sighed, bringing out his white knives again.

Across the field, Midoriya stared down Shouto as the older's team stood head to head with his own, their gazes set on his headband.

"I thought we would not have a confrontation like this until later in this contest," Tokoyami mumbled, "He thinks very highly of you, Midoriya."

_'I know. That's why this makes it harder,'_ Midoriya thought to himself, "Only half the time is left-! Don't stop moving."

"Iida, forward," Shouto commanded, leaning forward with a glint of determination colouring his eyes.

"Right-!" Iida said, taking off and leading them towards Midoriya's team.

"Momo, prepare to guard us and be a conductor."

"On it," Momo said, starting to create what was needed from her stomach.

"Dream, you-"

"I know what I have to do-!" Dream confirmed, exhiliration bright in his eyes.

Midoriya's eyes darted every which way as he and his team dodged left and right to avoid oncoming projectiles.

"Watch our surrounding-! It's not just one team coming for us!" He said anxiously.

"Make sure you guard well," Dream said to Momo, an excited grin on his face.

Shouto nodded, bringing up the cover Momo had created over the three of them as Dream began to charge up his power. Dream let out a loud laugh as he looked up to the sky, a rain of firey arrows coming down with increasing speed. The crowd gasped as the arrows entered the top of the stadium, some screaming in excitement as they began to plant themselves into the ground.

Teams left and right let out shreiks of pain and surprise as the arrows trapped and burned them, stopping them dead in their tracks. The only reason Midoriya's team stood unaffected was because of Dark Shadow, who took the blunt of the force once more. Shouto dropped the cover as the rain of arrows ceased, reaching out to Momo's creation the protruded from her arm as he looked up to the clock. 

"Only six minutes left," he said as he used his left hand to freeze over the ground behind them.

The creation separated from Momo as soon as Shouto was sure he had trapped all of the teams behind them, Iida's speed keeping them ahead of everyone.

"Sorry, but you'll just have to bear it," Shouto said semi-apologetically. 

"What-?! What'd he do-?!"

"Todoroki took care of that crowd of teams in an instant!" Mic proclaimed excitedly.

"He froze them after Dream's rain of arrows stopped them. I guess it should be expected, but he took into account how a lot of people avoided it in the obstacle course," Aizawa tacked on.

"Nice commentary!" Mic encouraged, holding a thumbs up to his partner.

Teams cried out in frustration as golden tendrils shot out and stole headbands from them left in right, Dream laughing as he handed them off to Shouto to hold. Shouto merely looked over his shoulder momentarily, summoning a wall of ice pillars with the intention of trapping Midoriya's team and everyone else out. 

Midoriya looked back to Error in panic, hoping the other could lift them out of this. His eyes widened when Error shook his head in a negative. While he could probably handle the heat of Dream's fire himself, he had teammates to think about as well.

"It's too strong-! We can't get away-!" Uraraka said with panic.

"I'll restrain them!" Tokoyami said, Dark Shadow going out to hopefully hit one of Shouto's teammates. 

"Momo-!" Shouto yelled.

"I know-!" she yelled back, summoning a shield from her arm just in time to block Dark Shadow's attack.

Dark Shadow hissed and reeled back, sticking to Tokoyami's side.

"Momo's creation is too hard to deal with-!" Midoriya said.

"No, Dream is worse. With that level of armour, if it had been sunlight, Dark Shadow would have been ripped apart," Tokoyami replied, an apprehensive look on their face.

Midoriya gasped in realization, finally taking into accounting that Dark Shadow indeed looked much smaller and more timid than he had at the beginning of the match.

"Right-!" he said to himself, remembering how Tokoyami had told him about the downfall of his seemingly invincible quirk, "I see... Dream's fire..."

"As long as he keeps producing flames, attacking will be difficult. Dark Shadow will become timid-" Tokoyami said, looking over to their quirk with a nervous expression.

_"I'm against violence..."_ Dark Shadow said in a small voice.

They all jerked to a stop as they realized they had reached the boundary line on the field, panic rising. 

"Team Midoriya has nowhere left to go!" Mic observed.

"Decreased offense... They don't know that, do they?" Midoriya asked, his brain running a mile a minute.

"I don't believe so. The only one I've told are Kouda and Shouji, and both are of few words," Tokoyami confirmed.

"Well... If they don't know that, then we can use that against them to hold them back-!" Midoriya said, "It's fine. No matter what, we will hold on to the 10 million-!" 

Error looked up at Midoriya, observing the slight anxiety in his expression and rose a brow. He knew that they could hold them back rather easily, so they tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Hm-? What is it-?" Midoriya asked, snapping out of his daze.

_**'I can hold them back as well, with my bones,"**_ he signed to him, _**'Tokoyami can help keep us covered.'**_

"Oh-! You're right! I almost forgot about your other attack-! Can you give us cover until time runs out?" Midoriya said, holding on to a glimmer of hope.

**_'I can keep them from being able to reach us, but I can't stop Dream's fire from hitting us._** '

"That's ok! As long as we can keep the 10 million! Now let's go!"

Error nodded, holding out his arm as his magic started to smoke from his left eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bakugo stared defiantly at Monoma, anger burning bright as flames in his eyes. He tried to hold back the angry tears that threatened to fall as well, blinking hard and fast to rid them. 

"Monoma-! Don't provoke him-! You don't even know how it went, dude-" One of Monoma's teammates said, a nervous look on his face.

"Ah, apologies. It's not hero-like to lash out irrationally, huh?" Monoma said with a nonchalant shrug, "Those heroes are always taken down the fastest, anyway."

Kirishima turned back to Bakugo, his worry for his friend on doubling as he noticed him start to shake.

"Katsuki, you need to take a deep breath, dude- I know this guy's being a dick but we can be better than him!" He said, hoping that he was in a mindset where he could actually process what Kirishima was saying to him, "If you don't calm down, we won't be able to get the points back either-!"

Bakugo clenched his fists at that, gritting his teeth as his inner turmoil boiled hot and dangerous. He brought his hands together, igniting an explosion between them just to let off some of his anger. 

"Forward, Kirishima. Because I am perfectly calm-!" he said, a manic glint in his gaze.

Kirishima sighed in defeat, but looked forward to Monoma.

"We're seriously counting on you, man-!" he yelled as he took off.

In a slight moment of realization, Bakugo halted in his anger. He knew he shouldn't have reacted so irrationally, but this guy had really struck a fucking nerve. Letting out a low growl of annoyance, he had Kirishima swerve to the side last second before Monoma had the chance to touch him. Which Monoma clearly had not counted on, seeing as the bastard nearly fell from the grips of his classmates.

While he was in the midst of falling, Bakugo smirked and used this to his advantage. He reached out behind him and quickly snatched three of the headbands from Monoma's neck, slapping the bastard for extra measure. Kirishima grinned as he realized Bakugo had gotten their points back with minimal violence, proud of his bro for being so manly!

"I told you we'd rise to the top you bastard. That means I'm not just gonna let you play me that easily," Bakugo said, a smug look on his face. 

"What a table turner! Team Bakugo seizes second place with the grace of a race horse! Amazing!" Mic yelled.

"Now! Off to where that icyhot and damn Deku are!" Bakugo yelled, pointing to the giant ice wall in their path.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One minute left-!" Mic shouted as the counter started to go down, "Todoroki made it so he could seize the 10 million in an instant! At least, that's what I thought five minutes ago! But, unbelievably, Midoriya has been able to keep away in that cramped space for five minutes!"

"Hold-!" Midoriya yelled as Dream shot another wave of fire through their barrier. 

'You're doing well,' All Might thought to himself with a smile as he watched Midoriya play.

"He can see right through you, fool," Endeavor grumbled to himself, glaring down at his son. 

Shouto was torn between admiration and annoyance as he stared down with Midoriya. On one hand, he was so proud that Midoriya was observant enough to realize his opponents weaknesses and blindspots. But on the other hand, that was bad news for him, since he couldn't seize the 10 million points without accidently freezing Iida or doing himself in. 

Iida, on the other hand, had other plans.

"Everyone, there's less than a minute left. You won't be able to use me after this. I'm counting on you-!" He said, his gaze darkening. 

His teammates looked to him with confusion, unaware of what he meant.

"Iida-?" Shouto asked, looking down at the boy. 

"Hang on tight," Iida commanded, prepping himself as his engines reeved up.

"Make sure you get it, Shouto!" he said, a determined edge in his voice.

With that final remark, Iida's engines began to heat up, blasting blue flames out of them as they prepared to take off. Dream looked to them in surprise, completely confused but also intrigued. 

"Torque Over--"

Beofre anyone knew what was happening, Shouto's team was moving. One second the were head to head with Midoriya, the next the surrounded by shattered bone shards with the 10 million point headband in Shouto's hand. No one had any time to react. 

"Reciproburst-!" Iida yelled as they came to a stop.

"Whaaaa-?! What happened?! So fast! So fast!" Mic yelled, leaning over the counter in disbelief, "Iida! If you could accelerate that fast, show us in the prelims!"

"What... was that-?" Shouto asked, his eyes wide and blown out in shock.

Iida took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart before responding.

"By forcing torque and rotations to increase, I created an explosive power. With the recoil, my engine stalls for a while, though." he explained, looking down to the thick smoke pouring from his mufflers, "It's a secret move I hadn't told anyone in the class yet."

Iida looked over to Midoriya's shocked face, smiling in satisfaction.

"I told you, didn't I, Midoriya? That I'd challenge you," he said triumphantly. 

"The tables are turned!! Offense and defence right at the edge! Reigning that in, Todoroki gets the 10 million points!" Mic commentated, still in a state of shock himself, "But wait-! It seems all hope is not lost for Midoriya-! They seemed to have managed to snag some points for themselves!"

Everyone looked around in confusion, Shouto checking the headbands around his neck and gasping when he realized one was missing. He whipped his head over to Midoriya's team, meeting the smug eyes of Error, who twirled the missing headband on his finger. 

Damn that glitchy skeleton.

"Error! How-! How did you manage-?!" Midoriya asked in disbelief.

**"rEFleXes."** he said, handing the headband to Midoriya. 

"That means Midoriya still has a chance to end up in fourth place, with the 576 points they had managed to steal!"

"We need to get back those points-!" Midoriya yelled as he secured the headband around his neck.

"As long as they have Dream, we'll be at a disadvantage if we attack!" Tokoyami protested, "Won't it be safer to try for other points right now?!"

"No-! I don't know how the other points got split up! This is our only chance!" Midoriya urged.

Uraraka bit her lip in consideration for a moment before looking up with determination.

"All right-!" She yelled as she pushed them all forward, "We'll get it back, Deku! We definitely will!"

Midoriya looked back to her with surprise, before pursing his lips and nodding to her. He turned his focus back to Shouto, who had his arms out and ready to fight back. The closer they got, the more doubt rose in his gut. But he pushed it away, charging up One for All in his arm and focusing it there. He brought it back when he was sure he had the power he needed and watched as Shouto's eyes widened.

Just as they went to meet, fist to fist, Shouto shocked himself and Midoriya as his left side ignited, showing the fire he had sworn to never use. Midoriya didn't give himself too much time to be surprised, instead swiping his hand away last second so he didn't actually hurt Shouto. 

Shouto looked to him with wide eyes, his blank left eye glimmering under the sun in a way that made Midoriya hesitate. But he pursed his lips, reaching out and grabbing yet another one of Shout's headbands. 

"I got it... I got it-!" He yelled triumphantly.

"With just eleven seconds left, there's been an angry retrieval here, too!" Mic shouted.

"Wait a second- Isn't that the wrong headband-?" Uraraka asked.

Midoriya looked down in horror, realizing he had grabbed the 70 pointer rather than the 10 million he had planned for.

"They got us-!" he yelled in frustration.

"Just in case- We changed the position of the headbands!" Momo yelled to him, "You were naive, Midoriya!"

"Shouto-! Please get a hold of yourself-!" Iida said to his friend, worry pooling in his chest, "That was too close!"

"Oh no! Team Midoriya didn't grab the 10 million points!" Mic said, "Time's just about up! Start the countdown!" 

"Tokoyami!" Midoriya yelled, starting to get jitery. 

"Dark Shadow-!" Tokoyami yelled to his quirk, who sped towards Shouto.

Shouto reeled back, looking to his ice wall just as it had exploded. Bakugo and his team came charging in, a manic looking Bakugo looking ready to take off. 

"Dream-!" Shouto yelled.

Dream nodded, sending out a wave of fire towards Dark Shadow which made the beast recoil with a shreik. He turned just in time to realize Bakugo had gone airborne, falling towards them with growing speed. Shouto's eyes darted this way and that, his right hand out and ready to fend off the both of them as they grew closer.

"Error-!"

**"I kNoW-!"**

Error gave them a bit of an extra push, using Uraraka's zero gravity to his advantage and pushing them forward faster with his own speed. Midoriya reached his hand out, ready to grab whatever headband he could.

But he never got the chance.

"Time's up!" Mic yelled, the whole stadium silencing for a brief moment. 

Bakugo let out an angered growl as he toppled to the ground in defeat. 

"That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle!"

Midoriya brought his hand back in a clenched fist, fighting back tears as he realized he hadn't won. 

"Bakugo-!" Sero yelled as he ran to his friend's side, "You ok, dude?!"

Bakugo only groaned from his place on the ground, slamming his fist into the dirt with frustration. Shouto finally jumped down off of his teammates' backs, letting out a shaky sigh of relief.

"Damn it-" he muttered. 

"Now! Let's take a look at our top four teams right away!" Mic announced, her hair bouncing wildly as she flung her arms about.

"In first place, Team Todoroki!"

Momo huffed, "Even though we won, it feels like we skating on thin ice-"

"Sorry... I caused everyone trouble-" Iida said, shouldering the blame. 

"Ah- That's not true-! Without you, we wouldn't have won-!" Dream said, hoping to encourage him.

"In second place, Team Bakugo!" Mic said.

"Ahh- We were so close-!" Mina said, shaking her hands to get rid of her jitters. 

"Well, second place isn't bad-!" Sero said with a smile, "All's well that ends well!"

Kirishima bit his lip as he looked over to Bakugo, who was strangely very quiet. 

"Third place is Team Tetsu- Huh-? What-?! It's Team Shinsou-?!" Mic asked with surprise. "When did you come from behind-?!"

Shinsou smiled as he looked up to the scoreboard, not even flinching as he felt the cold tendril on his back and turned to face Nightmare. Nightmare glared at him, his gaze cold.

**"Don't you EVER do that shit to me again,** **"** he snarled to the boy.

"Thanks for your hard work," Shinsou said with a shrug, meeting his cold gaze unmoveably. 

"In fourth place-! Team Midoriya!"

"God- That was too close-" Midoriya said, letting out a sigh of relief as tears fell from his eyes.

"But it's ok, Deku-! We made it-!" Uraraka said with an encouraging smile.

**_'Without your quick planning, we wouldn't have even made third place,'_** Error added in hopefully. 

"Thank you guys- So much-" Midoriya said between sobs.

"These four teams will advance to the final round!" Mic finished, pointing out to the crowd for added measure.

Shouto looked over to Midoriya as the latter cried, his lips twitching down. He looked down to his left hand, eyes glazing over as he got lost in thought.

_'I will never use this attack. That's what I had decided. But I was overwhelmed...'_ he thought to himself, hand clenching to a fist. 

"I can't... At this rate I'll just be doing what my old man wants..." Shouto muttered to himself angrily. 

"Now! We'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya!" Mic concluded, leaning back in his chair with his own sigh of relief. 

"Hey, Shouta, let's go grab some food, yeah?" He asked, looking over to the other man.

"Later. I'm going to sleep," Aizawa hummed, shutting his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~

Tetsutetsu, Awase, Juzo and Shiozaki stood and stared to the ground in shame and confusion.

"What happened-?" Tetsutetsu asked, "Before I knew it, we had zero point, and it was over-"

"It- It could be punishment for taking away the skeleton's in such an indecent way-?" Shiozaki put in, folding her hands in front of her. 

"I can't accept this-! Tetsutetsu said with frustration.

"How disappointing-" Tsu said, stewing to herself even as she walked over to Mina.

"Congratulations Mina."

"Ah-! Thank you Tsu-! Though I'm not really sure I did too much- You were amazing though!"

"Thank you, kerro."

"So you don't know what happened- At all-?" Cross asked his partner as they walked together.

**"Nothing. I know the results and how I ended up there, but the process I don't know,"** Nightmare said angrily, clenching his fists, **"That fucker has an annoying quirk."**

"Iida! I didn't know you had a special move like that! No fair!" Uraraka said, a pout on her face even as she ran in place. 

"It has nothing to do with fairness! I just wasn't using it as intended-!" Iida argued, fidgeting with his glasses.

"B-but it was fun-!" Dream put in, shrugging his shoulders, "You guys were amazing-!"

"I wanted to do something that could compete with Midoriya-" Iida mumbled.

"It's that manly thing, huh?" Uraraka huffed, crossing her arms before her eyes widened, "Speaking of Midoriya, where is he-? Where'd he go-?"

~~~~~~~~

Off to the side of the stadium, where the faculty and student entrance lay, three boys sat against the wall in silence.

Midoriya looked up at the ceiling as he coursed his hand through Bakugo's hair, holding Shouto's with his other one. The three had met up silently, not telling anyone they had left or where they would be. Just for a moment to relax.

"Kaachan... Are you ok?" Deku asked slowly, keeping his voice soft.

"... I will be. Just- It's-" Katsuki stopped, letting out a frustrated sigh and burying his face in Deku's stomach. 

Shouto looked over to him as well, staying silent. Deku looked up to him as well, his eyes sad as he met his partner's gaze.

"I'm sorry, you two... I... I didn't mean to..."

"Don't you dare be fucking sorry- Don't fucking do it-" Katsuki said quickly, sitting up and hugging Deku close, "It's not your fault, don't even start."

"Izuku... You didn't do this..." Shouto said quietly.

"Yeah, but I knew-! Shouto I saw the fear in your eyes when you ignited your fire! I knew about it and I still pushed you! And Katsuki. I didn't help you calm down beforehand, so you were way more sensitive during the battle and that was because I said fucking nothing-!" Deku said with frustration, angry tears falling from his eyes.

"Izuku-!" Katsuki yelled, interrupting the boy.

"Izuku, listen to me. Me not being able to get a fucking grip is NOT your fault! Sure it would have been nice to have a moment, but you are NOT obligated to help me."

"And just because you knew and I reacted that way, does not mean you caused it. You did not force me to, as my father did. This is NOT your fault," Shouto added in, running his hand through Deku's hair.

Deku could only sob as his boyfriends held him, listening to their reassurances and trying his best to reign his emotions back in enough to answer them or protest. They held him patiently, letting him cry and doing their best to keep him comfortable. 

"It's alright, love," Shouto whispered.


	11. The Grind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sports Festival, Finals (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a while- i was struggling with writer's block but I think I got the swing of it back-

"Welcome back you guys! Are you ready?!" Mic asked as she sat back down on her seat, ready to hype up the crowd again.

The crowd responded accordingly, roaring with excitement as Cemontoss finished up making the stage for the battle. 

"The first match of the first round of the finals tournament! From the Hero Course! It's Izuku Midoriya!"

The crowd whistled and howled as Midoriya made his way onto the stage, cracking his knuckles and looking over to the opposing entrance, where Shinsou was entering from.

A lot had happened since the end of the cavalry battle, with Ojirou forfitting his place to Tetsutetsu because of his pride against Shinsou, and the twins finding out they would be duelling each other on the bracket. Bakugo had grinned when he realized he would be fighting Uraraka, Uraraka grinning back. Over the few months since USJ, the two had gotten closer, Uraraka disregarding Bakugo's uptight attitude and Bakugo admiring Uraraka's determination. It would be fun. 

Everyone in their class had their eyes on the stage at the moment, though, watching with anticipation as Midoriya made his way to the centre of the stage.

"Versus, from general studies, it's Hitoshi Shinsou-!"

Shinsou looked up to where the rest of class A sat, smiling when he noticed his datemates waving to him excitedly. He gave a small wave back before returning his gaze to Midoriya. If he was completely honest, he didn't much care to be number 1. He didn't care to win the whole festival as his datemates, friends, and classmates wished. He just wanted to prove that he had potential, even with a seemingly invisible quirk like his. So he wasn't going to lie and say he hadn't been training with his dad for this.

He would show them that he was here to stay, even if he lost in this moment. 

"The rules are simple! Force your opponent out of bounds or immobilize them! You can also win by making your opponent say, 'I give up!'" Mic explained.

Midoriya took a deep breath to calm his nerves, his fist clenching uncomfortably over his chest. 

" 'I give up', huh?"

Midoriya looked up as Shinsou spoke, cocking a brow in confusion.

"This is a fight to test the strength of your spirit. If you know what you want for your future, then you can't worry about appearances," Shinsou said, his face darkening with a grin.

"Ready?!" Mic yelled.

"That monkey was going on about his pride..."

"Start-!!"

"...But don't you think he was dumb for throwing away his chance?" Shinsou asked, hoping to get the reaction he was planning for, even as he widened his stance.

Midoriya's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, taking a moment to process what had been said to him. He grit his teeth, his fists clenching. He knew Shinsou was only saying that to provoke him, since Shinsou actually really respected Ojirou, but he would not let his friend's choice be called irrational. So, he started to stomp up to Shinsou with anger, his emotions winning over logic.

"What did you say you-?!"

He stopped.

There was nothing.

His eyes went blank as his body froze, arms dropping to his sides. 

He knew this feeling, he had felt it once before, but never this intense. A low thrumming in his head like TV static. It was comforting in a way, feeling nothing but the warm tone of Shinsou's voice. He could register nothing else.

Not the screams of frustration from the stands.

Not Present Mic's confused commentary.

Not his friends worried yells.

Not even what he was being told.

Before he knew what was happening, he was turning around.

Shit!

This wasn't supposed to happen!

He knew Shinsou's quirk, had even trained with him before! Why the hell did he do that?!

He tried to work up the ability to care, but the low thrumming in his brain drowned out his thoughts like rippling water.

But then he found it.

The small little window of opportunity, even as he was walking towards the boundary line against his will.

He could see them, the figures of the past.

Even All Might was there.

He stared blankly at them, unable to react.

Not that he needed to, as he could feel that warm string of power slithering down his arm like a snake.

The warmth pooled into his two fingers, swirling around them like it did before he shot it off.

He felt the heat from the power get warmer and warmer.

Hotter and Hotter.

Until...

It all came back.

The buzzing was gone.

Midoriya took deep, gasping breaths as all of his sense were overwhelmed at once, being freed from Shinsou's control. He could undeniably tell that those two of his fingers were broken, from the way pain shot up his arm like a bullet when he went to move them. Nonetheless, he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned back around to face Shinsou, his eyes blown out.

Shinsou looked to him with a lopsided smile, his hands shoved in his pockets. He hid his surprise with how fast Midoriya had broken his control, instead presenting as if he had expected it.

"That's a pretty impressive quirk you have, Midoriya. What's it called?" He asked.

Midoriya covered his mouth so he wouldn't answer again, shaking his head and widening his stance.

"What? Don't feel like striking up a friendly conversation?" Shinsou teased, "I'm hurt, Izuku."

Midoriya shook his head again as he started forward towards Shinsou. Shinsou rolled his eyes, taking his hands out of his pockets and holding them out.

"What, are you mad at me? I can't even be a little curious about your quirk?"

_'You know about it, Shinsou,'_ Midoriya thought to himself as he continued forward.

"You know I've been behind because of my quirk from the start, Izuku. Are you just rubbing it in my face that I'll never be as good as you?" Shinsou said, his hand going to his pocket again to grab something.

_'You can! You know you can, Hitoshi-! You have so much potential!'_ Izuku's mind screamed at him to speak up, to reassure his friend. But he knew better.

Shinsou huffed in annoyance, pulling out his capture weapon and holding it between his hands.

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" he said, wrapping Midoriya up in it before the other could reach him.

"Whaaaa?! It seems Shinsou is using a capture weapon! Much like our beloved Eraserhead's! Is that allowed?!" Mic yelled.

"It is! It's a support weapon, so it's perfectly fine to use in duels!" Midnight clarified.

Midoriya struggled in the weapon's hold, his arms secured tightly to his sides. He was trapped.

Oh shit he was trapped.

His mind went a mile a minute as he tried to think of a way out of this, even as he felt the familiar warmth of One for All snaking through his body again. He twisted and turned, trying his best to stay quiet so he wouldn't be put under Shinsou's quirk once more.

"You know. I've always admired you, Izuku," Shinsou started, walking closer to Midoriya, "You were born quirkless. So you know just as well as I do how society treats people they deem useless, no? Any normal person would give up, give in, or maybe even kick the bucket. But no. You came back and bit the world in the ass, huh?"

He leaned in close, holding the boy's head up by his hair and staring into his scared green eyes.

"Came back with a shiny new quirk, one that no one seems to be able to beat. And left the rest of us in the dirt, no? If only it were that simple for us." Shinsou said, his eyes empty and tired.

"Shinsou has Midoriya all tied up! Will Midoriya surrender?!"

Those tired eyes widened though as Midoriya began to tremble.

Had he made the boy cry?

No.

Midoriya began to laugh.

Shinsou looked to him with confusion, backing up slightly and wondering what the hell the boy had to laugh about. 

When his laughter had calmed, Midoriya looked at Shinsou with determination in his eyes. Shinsou let out a sound of surprise as he was tripped, falling back on his ass. He tried to recover quickly, but Midoriya was faster. 

Midoriya grabbed the end of Shinsou's capture weapon, which was tied securely around the other boy's arm and tugged. Shinsou was jerked forward, letting out a sound of pain. With his theory proven, Midoriya began to spin around, the capture weapon still held firmly in his grasp.

Shinsou grunted with pain, holding on to the other end and trying fruitlessly to free himself as he was spun around like the hands on a clock. 

Damn, the squirt really got him, huh?

He chuckled to himself as he felt himself fly through the air, shutting his eyes in content even as he crashed mercilessly into the ground. He just laid there, making no move to get up or save himself.

Midoriya had won. 

"Shinsou is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to round two!" Midnight announced, her hand held high.

The crowd went wild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hhhhh- I was so nervous-!" Uraraka said, relaxing in her seat as the winner was announced.

"Turning the tables at the last moment. As expected of Midoriya!" Iida said with a proud smile on his face.

"Yeah that was cool and all but I hope Hitoshi's ok-" Denki said, her eyes fixed on her datemate who lie still on the field.

"Don't worry Denks! He'll be ok! You know he's super manly!" Kirishima reassured, pressing a small kiss to Denki's cheek.

Denki smiled, nodding in agreement before looking over to Bakugo. The latter remained silent, though his eyes betrayed his blank expression. He was in deep thought. 

Thinking about Shinsou's words.

"Yahoo!! That was a kind of boring first match, but we should praise them both for a bravely fought match! Clap your hands!!" Mic said, waving his arms dramatically once more.

Midoriya stood in front of Shinsou again, his eyes looking down to the ground as he tried not to think too hard on Shinsou's words. He knew the latter was just trying to get under his skin to get a response, but he couldn't help but think about it.

_'You know just as well as I do how society treats people it deems useless'_

He was right, but he didn't want him to think that just because he had a quirk now, he would act as society had to him. He looked up to Shinsou, his brows furrowed in concern. Shinsou merely smiled to him, giving him a mock salute.

"Good match, Izuzu," he said, spinning on his heel and walking off towards the exit.

"Shinsou..." Midoriya mumbled, not feeling brave enough to speak up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_'Izuku won, huh?'_ Shouto thought to himself as he made his way out of the waiting room.

He halted though, his gaze trailing up as he heard the familiar crackle of flame, his eyes narrowing.

"You're in my way," he said to his father.

"You're acting disgracefully, Shouto," Endeavour said sternly.

Shouto ignored him, continuing to walk by even as the bastard kept speaking.

"If you used the power on your left side, you would've had an overwhelming victory in the obstacle course and the cavalry battle."

He still ignored him, gritting his teeth as he walked by.

"Stop this childish rebellion already," Endeavor said, his annoyance growing, "You have a duty to surpass All Might. Do you understand?"

Shouto stayed silent, continuing in his path.

"You're different from your siblings. You are the greatest masterpiece!"

"... Is that all you can say, bastard? I will win and advance, with just Mom's power. I will not use yours when I fight," Shouto said, his anger washing over him like unforgiving waves.

Endeavour rolled his eyes, giving up for now.

"Even if that works for now, you'll soon reach the limits of that power," he said, assured he was correct.

Shouto said nothing, walking out into the sunlight to commence his first duel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deku hurried out of Recovery Girl's office, running up the steps to make sure he got back in time to watch Shouto's fight. As he skidded out the door, he sighed in relief as he realized he had made it in time. He waved to Uraraka and Iida who sat a few seats ahead of him, opting to sit next to Kaachan instead. 

"You alright, nerd?" Kaachan asked quietly.

"I'm ok! Recovery girl fixed up my fingers and my nose, so I'll be able to fight still!" Deku said with a smile, nuzzling into Kaachan's side.

Kaachan let out a sigh of relief disguised as annoyance, letting Deku do as he pleased.

"Thanks for waiting!" Mic yelled as the stag fires were lit once more, "Next up is... these guys!"

"He's good! He's good but what's with that plainness he just can't get rid of? From the Hero Course, it's Hanta Sero!"

"That's mean-" Sero huffed as he stretched out his arms.

"Versus! Taking second, then first in the prelims! You're way too strong, kid! He wasn't recommended for admission for nothing! Also from the Hero Course, it's Shouto Todoroki!"

Shouto stood silently, not moving a muscle as he waited for the match to start.

"And now! For the second match of the finals! Ready-?!"

"Well- I don't feel like I can win--" Sero admitted, rolling his neck.

"Start!"

Sero grinned as he immediately shot out lines of tape, wrapping up Shouto in them and trapping him. Shouto gave no reaction.

"--But I don't feel like losing either-!" Sero yelled as he went to throw Shouto out of bounds much like Midoriya had.

"A surprise attack aimed to push his opponent out of bounds! Don't you think that was the best decision for this situation?! Seriously, get him Sero!"

Shouto finally looked up at Sero, his eyes empty of their regular shine and full of a coldness that had Sero shiver.

"Sorry." He said quietly.

The stadium shook with the force of Shouto's ice, which had shot out so fast that no one had time to react. 

When the fog had cleared, everyone could see the absolutely monstrous sized glacier that Shouto had created. Having been so large that it shot out of the top of the stadium, startling the pro heroes who were stationed outside.

Death Arms and Kamui Woods looked up at the huge bouts of ice with wide eyes, frozen in place.

"What is that-?!"

Shouto's eyes relaxed and he let out a cold, foggy breath.

Endeavour's eyes narrowed as he stared down at his son, annoyed with his rebellious nature.

Shouto broke the tape that he had frozen over with his right, stumbling for a moment before regaining his footing and making his way over to Sero.

"Don't- Don't you think it's a bit m-much-" Sero said through chattering teeth, nearly completely swallowed up by the ice.

"Sero. Can you move?" Midnight asked, half covered in ice herself.

"O-of course n-not-" Sero replied, shivering horribly, "O-ow-"

"Sero is immobilized! Todoroki advances to the second round!" she announces.

The crowd still sat completely stock silent, unable to work up a proper response to how utterly demolished Sero had been-

"Sorry, I went overboard," Shouto apologised, walking up to Sero and placing his left hand on the ice surrounding him, "I was angry."

The ice began to melt away as Shouto's hand began to warm up, steam surrounding them like a thick blanket. 

From the stands above, Deku looked down at Shouto with wide eyes, his grip on Kaachan's hand tightening significantly. His brows furrowed in concern as he realized just how dire Shouto looked, his heart aching with the need to go down and help him. Kaachan seemed to have noticed, getting over his own shock so he could gently rake his hand through Deku's hair to reassure him.

"Icyhot will be ok, nerd. Just give him a second to cool off, no pun intended," he said quietly.

Deku merely nodded, looking up to Kaachan gratefully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Next up! We have a really flashy battle incoming!" Mic said, a mischievous grin on her face as she looked at the roster. 

"The Terror King, made from your deepest fears! From the Hero Course, Nightmare Joku!"

Nightmare looked up at the stands for a moment, a grin working it's way onto his face as he shook his head. This was going to be easy.

"Versus-- The Brightest Sun, here to lift your spirits! Also from the Hero Course, Dream Joku!"

Dream couldn't fight the grin on his face either, loving that he got a reason to just totally fucking duke it out with his twin and get rewarded for it.

**"Hey, Dream. No hard feelings, right? Because I'm totally gonna wipe the floor with you,** " Nightmare said, a chuckle escaping him.

"Yeah, no hard feelings. Especially when I launch you into the sun," Dream retorted, widening his stance and summoning fire in both hands.

"Ready-?!"

"Start!"

Dream rocketed forward immediately, hands held out as they sent forward a wave of fire towards their twin.

"And right away, Dream tries a surprise attack on his twin!"

Nightmare stood there patiently, waiting until he could feel the heat from the flames before melting into the ground and slinking behind Dream. Dream blinked in surprise, turning around to hopefully hit Nightmare before he could, but he was too slow. Nightmare grabbed him with a tentacle and hurled him across the stage.

Dream panicked for a moment before quickly manifesting his wings and digging the claws into the ground before he could go out of bounds. He whipped his head up to look at Nightmare, literal smoke coming from his determined eyes. 

"But Nightmare isn't ready to give up so easily! Amazing!"

"Dick move, Night."

**"I mean this IS a fight-"**

Dream growled and launched himself into the air, summoning his bow and launching firey arrows towards his twin.

Nightmare dodged most of them, quickly redirecting the others with his portals before they could hit him.

"Dream instead tries to overwhelm Nightmare with numbers! Go Dream!"

Nightmare rolls his eyes at the commentary, already bored with the fight. Dream was so predictable. He fake yawned, just to piss the other off, grinning when he noticed the flash of anger that lit up Dream's eyes. Dream growled, baring his teeth slightly as he aimed to knock Nightmare over from above.

Nightmare watched him come down, watching him gain speed with a smirk.

**"So predictable, Dream."**

He opened a portal before Dream got too close, Dream flying right in before realizing with horror that he had been tricked. Before he could stop and turn around, the second portal appeared and shot him out, pushing him off the stage.

"Dream is out of bounds! Nightmare advances on to the second round!" Midnight announces.

"Amazing! Nightmare completely redirected Dream's path with what looked like a portal! What even is this guy's quirk?!"

"The Joku Twins are just as similar as they are different. Their power stems from a similar source, but you can see both took very different paths down their advancements. Nightmare, mentally, and Dream physically. So while Dream could possibly best his twin in hand to hand combat, when it comes to a battle of power, Nightmare came out on top," Aizawa explained, looking down at his student as the other walked back out to the exit, tentacles twitching irritably. 

"Nightmare! You asshat!" Dream yelled, his wings dematerializing as the round finished, "You didn't even fight!"

**"Maybe I would have, if you hadn't been so easy to read. Come up with a new strategy, then we'll duel.** " Nightmare said simply, waving the other off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Next up, we have a pretty interesting pair!" Mic said, looking down at the display screen.

"We have Ingenium Jr! From the Hero Course, Tenya Iida!"

Iida stretched his legs out carefully, making sure his engine was ready to be used again before looking across the stage to his opponent.

"Versus-- The Silent Mystery! Also from the Hero Course, Error CQ!"

Error simply looked up at Iida, fiddling with the ends of his scarf absentmindedly. 

"I hope we can have a fair and fun match, Error-!" Iida called out, saluting his classmate out of respect.

Error nodded silently, watching Iida with eyes like a hawk.

"Are you ready?!"

"Start!"

Iida took a moment to prepare himself, bending his knees before he took off, eyes never leaving Error's form. Error's stance widened immediately, his eyes seeming to inspect Iida's every movement.

Iida grinned as he brought his leg up to deliver a roundhouse kick, his eyes glimmering as he took notice of the speed Error used to dodge him. Error wasted no time in counterattacking with a quick punch to the jaw, knocking Iida over in surprise. 

"Looks like this is a match of speed! Will Iida's speed be too much for Error to handle? Or will Error's agility overwhelm Iida?!"

Iida took a few steps to regain his balance, looking around in confusion as he realized Error had disappeared. He let out a shout of surprise as he was suddenly wrapped up in strings, restricting all of his movements. He tried his best to struggle, but only ended up falling over onto his stomach. He let out another sound of surprise as he felt a weird buzzing feeling like pins and needles shoot through his stomach. He tried his best to turn his head, his eyes widening as he realized he was being pinned down by a glowing blue bone.

"Iida is immobilized! Error advances to the second round!" Midnight announced.

The strings and bone quickly disappeared after she said so, Iida's hand shooting down to his stomach to feel for any injury. Surprisingly, it seemed to just be more of an unpleasant feeling rather than actually impaling him, so he couldn't be upset.

**"gOoD gAMe."**

Iida looked up to Error, who was offering his hand to help the other up. Iida smiled at him, taking his hand and pulling himself up. He didn't fail to notice how strong the other's grip was compared to his own.

"Good game! You're really talented, Error!"

Error gave him a small smile as well, nodding to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next matches ended almost embarrassingly quickly. With Mina versus Ink, Ink had her pinned down under solidified ink as soon as Mic had said start. And while Mina had melted through the matter impressively quickly, Ink trapped her in what seemed to be similar to Juzo's quicksand but with ink. Momo versus Tokoyami had also ended surprisingly quickly, with Tokoyami's relentless attacks overwhelming Momo so much she hadn't even realized she was out of bounds. Tetsutetsu Versus Kirishima had ended in a draw, since the twos' quirks were rather similar in nature, which would be resolved after they woke up.

But now, it was time for the match even had been waiting for.

"The eighth and final match of the first round! He was kind of popular in middle school! This isn't the face of a regular joe! From the Hero Course, it's Katsuki Bakugo!"

Bakugo stood on the opposing side of the stage, his hands in his pockets and a blank look on his face as he stared at his opponent defiantly.

"Versus-- (She's the one I'm rooting for-) From the Hero Course, it's Ochaco Uraraka!"

Uraraka grinned at Bakugo, ready to take on her friend with all she had. 

"You ready for this, Round Face?" Bakugo asked, not heat in his tone.

"Only if you are 'Lord Explosion Murder' " She teased.

"Let's. Get. Starteeeed!!"

"Go!"

Uraraka ran forward as soon as Mic gave the go-ahead, her hands out and ready to activate her quirk. Bakugo's stance widened, his arms out offensively as well with little crackles lighting up his hands.

She had meant to be quicker, but she was still getting better with her reflexes, sue her. She honestly should have realized that Bakugo would be quicker as soon as he brought his right hand back, yet she couldn't bring herself to dodge. She took the force of the blast, her shoes skidding against the concrete and nearly tripping her. She lowered her arms as the heat left and her eyes widened as she got an idea.

Bakugo's eyes darted around quickly as he looked for any signs of that Roud Face. He knew she was smart, a side effect of hanging out with Deku, but he didn't have any idea of what she had planned besides that she wanted him in the air. When he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his vision, he spun around and blasted it quickly.

"You can't get in that easy Roud Face-!" he yelled, body jerking back once he realized he had been tricked with a decoy.

His eyes widened as he felt a blast of wind from behind him, turning around almost inhumanly fast and providing a counterforce blast that knocked Uraraka back. Uraraka rolled her eyes in annoyance, her eyes darting from Bakugo to the ground before yet another idea sparked in her mind. 

"Hey, Bakugo. Have I ever told you how deep my power can reach?"

Bakugo rose a brow, his eye darting to the ground quickly before focusing on Uraraka again.

"The fuck do you mean."

Uraraka smiled at him, saying nothing. She knelt down on the ground letting her power reach deep down, feeling the material below her. When she felt she had a good enough grasp, she opened her eyes again, unaware she had closed them.

"Thanks for never underestimating me, by the way," she said.

Bakugo grit his teeth, backing up cautiously with his hands out and ready to fight.

Uraraka laughed, standing up suddenly and bringing her arms up over her head quickly. The ground beneath Bakugo shook, and his eyes trembled with the realization of what exactly Uraraka was doing. He looked up at her, his eyes wide. The ground beneath him ripped open, rock, dirt, grass, cement and more coming up and obscuring his vision. He yelped in surprise, doing his best to avoid getting hit. Of course, he couldn't avoid everything, yelling out as a rock hit him in the eye. 

"Whaaa?! Uraraka strikes back after Bakugo's merciless attacks with an overwhelming amount of power!! Where did she learn that from?! Amazing!"

The crowd cheered, loud and proud as they watched the debris fly up into the air. Uraraka held her stomach as she started to feel nauseous, but nonetheless made sure to hold up all of the debris she had just ripped up carefully. When she was sure she had enough, she released them all, creating a humongous meteor shower. She let out a breath as she did so, the nausea ceasing for a brief moment. 

Bakugo looked up to the falling debris, his lips pursed as he tried to think. After a moment of debate, he grunted, holding up his hands and letting his ignition pool into his palms. When he was sure he had enough and was ready to ignite it, he let out a sigh of annoyance as he ignited it all at once. 

The resulting blast was so large in size that the smoke that followed temporarily blocked out the sun, casting a huge and dark shadow over the stadium. All of the debris that had been in the air was gone, blasted into the fucking void. Uraraka stared up in shock, unaware that he could even make a blast of that size. She had been counting on the fact that Bakugo was one to make quick and small(er) attacks, and hadn't even considered that he could make a much bigger one if he tried. 

She watched as he grit his teeth, flexing his hand uncomfortably and massaging his palm. He must be near his limit. She figured so, since that looked like it took a lot of energy. And to be honest, she was much to close to her own. But like hell she was giving in that easily.

She stumbled for a minute, a dizzy spell hitting her from overuse of her quirk, but she recovered fairly quickly. She took advantage of Bakugo's seemingly dazed condition and ran up to him, letting adrenaline fuel her as she decked him in the face as hard as she could.

He let out a grunt of surprise, his eyes widening and his pupils thinning out as he looked to her. She gave smile, even as she knew she would lose at this point. She winced as she felt the heat pool near his hands and mentally prepared herself for the burn she was about to deal with.

_'And this is why we have patience-_ ' she scolded herself, _'Like Deku-!'_

She let out a scream of pain as she was blasted back, bouncing on the concrete and tumbling off of the stage as Bakugo released another humongous blast with his other hand.

_'But, it was satisfying to see that rare fear in his eyes,'_ she said, even as she lay sprawled out on the ground with a burn on her side.

The crowd was silent.

"Uraraka is out of bounds! Bakugo advances to the next round!" Midnight declares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shit- Round Face, are you ok-? I didn't mean to blast you that hard-" Bakugo hissed as he threw open the door to Recovery Girl's office.

"Keep your voice down!" Recovery Girl scolded,"She's asleep right now, but she'll be ok. Nothing is seriously injured, more so just shock. How about you? That eye doesn't look too good."

"No- Don't fucking worry about me, it's nothing- Just surprised me," Bakugo brushed off, rubbing his injured eye as he was reminded of it.

"I'd rather annoy you by worrying and have your eye healed than have you go blind like Shouto," Recovery Girl protested, knocking the boy in the knee with her cane.

Bakugo hissed in pain, but said nothing more. He rolled his eye and knelt down in front of her, his expression dark with annoyance. He wanted nothing more than to just be let go so he could watch his boyfriends' match. But, alas, he just _had_ to worry about his friends. 

"Nothing too serious, thankfully! Just wear this protective patch over it until your next match, ok? You need to keep dirt, particles, and sunlight from irritating it further," Recovery Girl said finally, handing him a medical eyepatch.

Bakugo groaned but nodded in understanding, securing the eyepatch over his eye carefully. 

"You might be a bit blind in that eye for the rest of the day, so be sure to clean it regularly."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Tell Round Face I came down when she wakes up, please."

Recovery Girl smiled at him as she watched him leave, nodding her head and walking back over to Uraraka. Bakugo looked over to the sleeping girl hesitantly, pursing his lips. After a moment though, he walked back out, shutting the door behind him. 

He had a fight to watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once he had gotten back up to the stands, Bakugo observed that his boyfriends' were missing and looked around in confusion. 

Had he missed it already-?

"Oh- Bakubro-!" Denki called out, raising their hand up to him with a smile.

"Hey, sparky. Where's forest and icyhot?"

"They went down to the waiting rooms! Kirishima and Tetsutetsu just settled their draw, Kirishima's gonna be continuing into the next round!" Denki replied with excitement as Bakugo sat down next to them.

"Hm."

"Are you alright by the way-? Your eye I mean- Did you like- Cut it-?" Denki asked with concern.

"Nah. It's nothing to fuckin worry about, sparks for brains. Uraraka just put up a badass fight."

"Oh yeah! How is she doing-? She looked pretty beat up when your match was over-"

"Nothing permanent, Granny said. But she's asleep right now."

"Awwwe- I hope she feels better-"

"You and me both-"

"Gasp! Is the great Bakugo Katsuki actually showing outward concern for another human being?!"

"I will kick your ass to the curb-"

"Guys-! Shush! The match is about to start-!" Dream shushed them, bopping them on the heads gently.


	12. Cataclysm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sports Festival (The Finals, part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk why this took me so long to write but :/  
> Shouto-centric with this chapter bc I love him and he has so much angst potential and yall know it <3

Izuku tried to steady his trembling hands as he looked down at the ground. He was walking towards the field entrance, his thoughts racing miles faster than his brain could process. He didn't know exactly what this fight would mean to Shouto, but he knew that his partner had been avoiding him all day, not even responding to his good morning texts. It made him anxious, even though he knew it was just his boyfriend's conditioned response to stress. He just hoped that Shouto knew that no matter what, he would never hold this against him.

His train of thought was interrupted though, as a flaming pair of boots came into view. The room seemed to get warmer, and Endeavour, in all his sick glory, walked out in front of him. Izuku's eyes widened comically, his body jerking in response to how much taller the man was to him.

"E-endeavour-?!" he cried out in surprise.

Endeavour's icy blue eyes turned to him slowly, his gaze calculating. He hummed and nodded, stopping in his tracks to face Izuku.

"There you are," He said, his voice making Izuku shrink back a bit.

He held up an accusing finger to the younger boy's face, his eyes darkening as his flames seemed to brighten threateningly.

"I watched you fight in the cavalry. you have a wonderful quirk. You created so much wind pressure with just a flick of your fingers. If we're speaking on power alone, yours is much akin to All Might's," the elder hero concurred.

Izuku flinched at the accusation, looking down at his shoes as he fidgeted with his gym uniform. 

"Ah- Well, I'm no All Might, haha. I- I have to get going now-" Izuku said, walking past him and refusing to make eye contact.

Endeavour's scowl deepened, and he turned on his heel to watch the young student leave.

"My Shouto was brought up to surpass All Might. Today's fight will serve as a test of his knowledge. Do try to make it a challenge for him, if you even can."

Izuku stopped, listening to the slow receding footfalls of the number two hero. He bit his lip, thinking over his options carefully as he tried to think of the best decision at this moment. 

"I... I am not All Might," he said quietly, listening as Endeavour's footsteps paused.

"Well of course not, that's obvi-"

"That's obvious, right? I will never be All Might."

Izuku turned around to face Endeavour, his viridian eyes gleaming with a silent threat.

"Shouto is not you. He will never be you. He is his own person, with his own goals, and his own desires. And if you can't see that, maybe you should spend more time training your mind than trying to look like the next Hercules-" he sneered, immediately regretting it.

Why did he do that?!

He just insulted the number two hero!

He could get in so much trouble for that why could he not keep his mouth shut?!

"Sorry for wasting your time-" He mumbled, quickly hurrying off and leaving a gobsmacked Endeavour to stand in the middle of the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for waiting, everyone!" Mic announced as the flames onstage relit.

"The first match of the second round is a big match!"

Shouto came up to the stage slowly, his body tense with hidden anxiety, even as a fierce expression clouded his features. His hair blew softly against the wind, making him look near angelic, from Izuku's point of view. 

"The man who won a huge victory in the first round and literally left the audience frozen-- From the Hero Course, it's Shouto Todoroki!"

Izuku sucked in a breath as he clenched his fists, being sure to keep his head level so he could think properly. His eyes shown a toxic green, warding off any lingering stares that came his as embers from the flames danced across his vision.

"On the other hand, this guy! Who made it through the first round by the skin of his teeth! What kind of fight will he show us this time? From the hero course, it's Izuku Midoriya!"

Izuku came to a stop, shifting his feet carefully as he came face to face with Shouto. His eyes were sullen, and he tried his best to ward back tears as he looked to his boyfriend's hopeless expression. 

"So you're here..." Shouto said quietly, his gaze lingering only for a moment.

"Shouto..." Izuku whispered, his fists clenching in frustration with the current situation at hand. 

Shouto looked up to him, his dull eyes empty of any emotion. He knew what he had to do but he didn't know if he had the strength to do it. And Izuku's eyes... 

They looked almost pleading.

Shouto nodded to him once, his eyes flashing up to the stands for a brief moment to see where Endeavour stood. 

"None of this is your fault..." Izuku said softly.

"Ready?!"

"It's none of your concern, either," Shouto said without thinking.

"Start!!"

Izuku shrunk back a bit at the remark, but his eyes remained steeled. He watched as Shouto shot off an ice attack, just as he had expected, and moved out of the way in time. He knew how Shouto would try to overwhelm him, but he had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve. He kicked his shoe up against his opposite heel, the previously hidden grate of spikes lining the bottom of his sole. He repeated it with his other shoe, his eyes still trained one the bi-coloured boy. Better safe than sorry, and it's not like it's a support item. 

Plus, he can't risk getting hurt yet.

He needs to have patience.

Shouto looked over to him again, his eyebrow cocking slightly in interest. Nonetheless, he stood his ground and sent off another attack, much faster this time. Izuku's brows furrowed, and he lept up into the air to avoid being hit. When he landed, he held his hand down to the ice under him to check how cold it was. Drawing his hand back immediately at the frigid temperature, he smirked. 

Shouto shouldn't have told him about his set back if he had wanted to win.

Shouto noticed the smirk, his own lips twitching into a frown.

_Damn you, Deku._

Izuku launched himself into the air again, allowing himself only a moment to shut his eyes and regulate his power. With the extra practice he was able to do in the few months extra they had to prepare, he had better trained himself to use his quirk without the extra damage. So, he pictured the egg in the microwave as he made his descent, focusing on the imagery in his head and applying it to every muscle he could before he made contact with the ground.

And when he did, the earth beneath him shook.

The ice was blown away with the sheer amount of wind force Izuku was emitting, his new Drop Style overpowering Shouto's attacks for a brief moment. Shouto held his arms over his face, bringing up ice behind him so he wasn't blown out of bounds.

Izuku grinned to himself when he realized he had succeeded in not breaking his legs, but winced at the inevitable bruising instead. Bruising he could handle for now.

When the wind stopped whipping around them, Shouto brought his hands down from his face, his head nearly whipping up as he thought he now had the upper hand. But he faltered, noticing his very much not incapacitated boyfriend still standing, fists drawn back as he ran towards him. 

He only had a moment to react, and a moment was all Izuku needed.

His fist connected with Shouto's jaw and the other let out a grunt of pain, reaching out blindly to grab Izuku's arm. He flinched when the other cried out, he hadn't meant to freeze him.

Izuku drew back, clutching his freezing arm with his good hand, trembling slightly. But that sharp look in his eyes gleamed, being fixated on Shouto's right side.

Shouto only had a moment to wonder why before the deep-set cold reached his bones.

Oh.

Izuku had planned this.

Gritting his teeth, Shouto did his best to ignore the throbbing of his arm as he always did, instead bringing it out and summoning a glacier for him to run up. Izuku's eyes startled for a moment, but he quickly recovered finally _Finally_ using Smash to break through. Shouto felt himself falling, but he didn't give himself time to think, only swinging his right hand down in a right hook, aiming for Izuku. Izuku jumped away the last second, bits of ice clinging to his dark curls and weighing them down in front of his face. He huffed in an attempt to blow them out of his face, his expression unreadable. 

Shouto got an idea, his eyes flashing for just a moment as it hit him. It was a dirty play, but it should work. Not that he ever minded playing dirty either. He stopped his ranged attacks, instead running up close to Izuku and punching him in the stomach. Izuku grunted out in surprise, his vision dancing for a moment as the wind was knocked out of him. He retaliated, kicking Shouto in the knee and making him buckle over. Izuku saw stars for a moment as he felt the frigid cold again, looking down to the ice spreading over his gym uniform. 

He panicked, trying to claw it off so it wouldn't encase him, but it stopped growing before it could anyway. He looked up to Shouto again, his eyes full of anger (never at Shouto) as he drew his fist back again.

"Fine," he growled, "You wanna play dirty? I'll play dirty."

He brought his fist down to the stage below him, watching as bolts of green electricity ran through it and vaporised the top layer of cement into chunks of debris. Shouto jumped up to avoid being hit while also trying his best not to get blown out of bounds by the wind impact again. 

Mic's narration was mute on their ears, their minds singling out each other in an attempt to focus. 

"Shouto!!" Izuku shouted, cradling his broken hand to his chest, "You know you can't go on like this!!"

"Shut up!!" Shouto sneered back, ignoring his trembling limbs.

"Just use it! I know it hurts and I know he made it look bad but if you don't you'll freeze!! Shouto, you're still human, please!!" Izuku practically begged, despite looking much worse than the other. 

"I don't want to hear it. I told you I don't want to hear it, Midoriya!!" Shouto yelled, running forward, albeit much slower, to punch him again. 

"The more you reject it, the more power you're giving him! Shouto, he'll win if you don't!!" Izuku pleaded, ducking his punch.

"Shut the fuck up!!" Shouto screamed, getting angrier every passing moment. 

He kept trying to hit him, throwing a kick when none of his punches connected. Izuku yowled, his broken hand going down to where the bruise had been hit. Shouto kicked his hand too, pushing him back onto the ground and freezing his arms to the ground.

"You don't understand, Izuku! You can't! You don't have him as your father. Your mother is home safe! I have to win!!"

"Shouto..." Izuku said, blinking back tears of pain.

"Midoriya! Can you move?" Midnight yelled.

Shouto was about to turn away, but he was interrupted before he could. He shouted surprise as spiked shoes came in contact with his calf, buckling over and clutching his now bloody wound. Izuku gave a yell of determination as he broke through the ice, kicking up to his feet again. His arms were still covered in ice, his body trembling, and he looked ready to keel over. 

But that look.

That animalistic look in his eyes.

He wasn't giving up that easy. 

Shouto quickly tried to summon another attack, but with how weak his body was becoming from the cold already, it was too slow. 

Izuku stepped away easily, nearly falling over from how unbalanced he was.

"Shouto..." He started, his voice heavy, "You're so strong love, you know that?" 

Izuku looked to him, his eyes glazed over with tears threatening to fall, lacking their normal vibrance.

Izuku was tired.

Shouto's eyes widened, trembling as he released a misty breath. Izuku didn't move, not daring since he knew he would fall over.

He was waiting. 

Shouto's resolve crumbled right before his eyes, seeing the desperation that coloured Izuku's. 

He just wanted Shouto to be better.

He wanted him to see him like he saw Izuku.

Why did he react like this?

His memory supplemented an image of his mother, standing in Izuku's place with her wet hair splayed across her face. The scenery was different, he was sitting outside in the rain, his mother had come looking for him.

"What are you doing out here, my sweet boy?" Rei asked, her voice affectionate as ever.

"I... I wanted to catch the frogs..." He responded, his voice higher and more childlike, "Touya said he liked frogs... And I thought... Maybe I could bring him one since he's sad..."

Rei smiled, crouching down next to him and holding out her hand.

"May I see?"

He felt his head nod, and he slowly placed his cupped hand over hers. He opened them, revealing a small green frog. Rei giggled at the sight, her other hand coming up to pet his head.

"You're so strong, love. I would have never been able to catch one," She said softly, "But let's get out of the rain, okay? If you get sick, Touya will be even sadder."

Shouto frowned, feeling guilty. He nodded, standing up with the frog still in his grasp.

"Is he still eating, mama?"

"Touya is in his room, Fuyumi had to coax him to get back to bed. How about we can take care of your little frog friend until he wakes up?"

"Okay!" 

Shouto gave a smile as he bounded back towards the house, sticking to Rei's side.

"You're lucky you can keep yourself warm with your fire, my little star. Make sure you keep doing that whenever you need, ok? You taking care of yourself will always make me proud," Rei said softly, patting Shouto's hair again.

_'You taking care of yourself will always make me proud.'_

The words echoed in his head, blinking his eyes to see Izuku there again. The ringing in his ears was too much. Everything was too much. It was too cold. He needed it to stop. He needed her warmth again. He needs...

He needs his flames.

Shouto gasped as the familiar tickle of heat ignited on his left, flames roaring up and devouring every bit of cold with no mercy. Izuku's tears fell, a smile on his face that glowed in the firelight. 

"I'm so proud of you," he said softly.

It would have been drowned out by the crackle of the flames if it wasn't all Shouto could focus on. He stood, the cold that made his bones ache ebbing away bit by bit, chased by the unforgiving heat. 

"Shouto!!" 

The roar from the stands silenced everyone, eyes turning to Endeavour as he clomped down the stairs to get closer to the fight. His eyes were shrunken and manic, his grin colouring his face a shade darker. 

"Have you finally accepted yourself?! That's it! Good! It all starts from here for you!!"

A few patrons shifted away from the snapping of Endeavour's flames, fear and confusion evident in their eyes. 

"With my blood, you will surpass me... You will fulfil my desire!" He shouted, gripping the railing so tightly it dented. 

But Shouto could not hear him. 

His mind was buzzing, ears ringing and eyes blown as the heat overtook him.

Too much.

Touya...

Without thinking, he shot his left arm forward, intending to instead overwhelm Izuku with the unknown. But he didn't get to, a wall of cement blocking his attack. He looked over to Cemontoss in confusion, just as Midnight's voice rang out.

"Midoriya is unconscious! Todoroki moves on to the second round!"

His eyes widened.

He was about to hit his boyfriend while he was already out.

On instinct, his eyes shout up to where Katsuki was sitting in the stands. Shouto's eyes were wide and, for a brief moment, even afraid. But Katsuki just gave him a small sad smile, nodding his head. Shouto dropped to his knees, breathing heavily from his tight lungs and trying to collect his thoughts.

This was way too much.

Way too fucking much.

And Midnight must have noticed, because next thing he knew, he was smelling that alluring scent that lulled him into a dreamless sleep. 

"WOW!!" Mic shouted as both boys were carried offstage by med bots, "That's a lot to unpack!! But it certainly was exhilarating to watch!! Any comments, Eraserhead?"

"Had Shouto's fire been too hot, the air that had been cooled throughout the match by his ice would have expanded rapidly," Aizawa said, his voice low. 

"...Meaning?"

"This could have ended much worse."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shouto-!!" Izuku yells as he jerks awake, sitting up too fast.

"Keep your voice down, he's still sleeping!" Recovery Girl scolds, whacking him with her cane.

He winces, rubbing the spot and looking down at his bandaged arms. He grimaces at the soreness in his fingers, looking over to Recovery Girl with a pinched expression. He took a moment to gather where he was, what was going on, and sharpen his situational awareness. 

"... How bad is it?"

"Luckily, not as bad as it could have been. Only some broken fingers and large bruising. You're doing better with being less self-destructive but you still need to work on toning it down the most you can. I'm not always gonna be here to help, you know," She says, her voice stern.

"I know, I'm sorry-" Izuku said, looking down in shame.

"... Is he ok?" he asks, his voice a whisper.

"He got overwhelmed. From what I've gathered, he hasn't used his fire in a very long time. So the amount and time he used it was too much for him, along with the stimulations from the crowd. But just how he reacted makes me concerned. Would you happen to know if he has even been tested to see if he lies on the spectrum?"

"Spectrum-? Like me and Denki-?"

"Yes."

"Uhm- I don't know- But knowing his dad, he probably didn't even want to consider the possibility, so I don't have any confidence he has," Izuku said, scowling down at the ground.

"I don't have much confidence either. But, that is something to worry about after the festival is over, as long as it doesn't debilitate his ability." Recovery Girl concluded, standing up from her chair.

"Uhm... If... If you don't mind me asking, was- Did maybe Y-yagi come in-?" Izuku asked, his voice soft.

"He came in, yes. But you both were asleep with fresh injuries, so I had to usher him out so I could work. Would you like to call him back?"

"No-! No- S-sorry- Just- I... I don't want to bother him, it's fine-" Izuku said quickly, coarsing a hand through his curls, "uhm... What about- uh- K-kaachan-?"

"He's down preparing for his next match right now. He said he'd come back if you two were still out when he was done... If you go now, you can catch his match," she adds softly. 

Izuku looks up to her with wide eyes, a sparkle gleaming in them. 

"You're cleared to go. Make sure you drink some water and fill your belly!" She lightly scolds, offering a small smile.

Izuku grins, quickly ripping the sheet off his form and grabbing his shoes. He ties them quickly, grabbing his jacket (which had to be removed to check for internal bleeding) and binder (off for obvious reasons) After slipping both on, careful not to irritate his healing wounds, he heads over to Shouto's bedside. He pressed a light kiss to his forehead before heading out, uncaring of who saw. Their relationship was newly public, and honestly, Izuku was just glad he could hold his boyfriends' hands in public without the crippling anxiety.

He knew that the other would likely wake up before the next round, as Shouto rarely slept long in anything, but that didn't stop him from looking back at the door he just came out of wistfully. He hoped Shouto wasn't truly angry at him- He just wanted to help... 

He'd have to apologise later.

Izuku sighed as he walked out to the balcony, looking down to the current match to see who was winning. He smiled, watching Kaachan dodge every one of Kirishima's punches with practised agility. His boyfriend was so cool-

He peeked up at the scoreboards as well, a pout painting his features as he realized he had missed watching Ink and Error win their matches, wishing he could have been there to better analyze their fighting styles. Especially Error's fight, since he was most definite that any fight between Error and Nightmare was a scary (but fascinating) thing to watch. 

" **MiDOrIyA.** "

Izuku jumped at the new voice, spinning around to face Error who was coming up with a small smile. 

**_'Good to see you're ok. Your injuries looked like they hurt,'_** he signed.

"Ah- Yeah, I'm alright! A little tired, but good. And congrats on making it to the next round! Sorry I wasn't here to watch it-"

**_'Thank you. Your fight with Todoroki gave me some more insight on him, so I'd like to thank you as well.'_ **

"Oh-! Uhm- Y-you're welcome-?" Izuku said, bringing a hand up to scratch his head with a shy smile, "I just hope he isn't mad at me..."

**_'Give him some time. He's still sleeping, and that fight brought up some old memories for him.'_ **

"Wait- How- How do you know that-?"

Error hummed, bringing up a little floating window decorated with 0s and 1s. 

**_'Code reading. Part of my magic.'_ **

"Woah-! That's- Really cool-! Is that- Is that how we're like- Able to understand each other much easier despite our language differences? S-sorry if that's like- Weird to ask I just kinda noticed that on your first day here you h-had to have Sensei Aizawa translate for you and then after that we didn't really have any problems with it-"

**_'Yeah. I've implemented Translators on us. You'd think more people would have noticed American English speakers suddenly speaking fluent Japanese-'_ **

Error snickered.

**_'But nevermind that right now. I'll tell you more later if you would like, but right now Kirishima is getting his ass handed to him.'_ **

"What-?"

Izuku spun around, looking down to the stage again as it was lit up with Kaachan's quirk. His eyes widened as he watched Kirishima stumble, his hand up over his chest defensively. Izuku winced, his hand going up to his own binder in phantom pain. Kiri was one of the lucky ones, but he knows himself that shit is still sensitive- 

Katsuki laughed, his hands sizzling at his sides as he watched Kirishima reel back from the overwhelming force of his explosions. 

"You've done pretty damn good, Shitty Hair! But you keep forgetting who helped you train!" He yelled, allowing his sweat to pool into his palms again before shooting them forward and igniting them.

Kirishima's eyes widened comically and he tried his best to completely harden himself to take the force of the burst. But fatigue was catching up to him fast, and he felt the pain of overuse settle in, so he was forced to deactivate it. He flew backwards, his body bouncing off of the concrete as he landed with a painful shout.

"Kirishima is immobilized! Bakugo wins!" Midnight calls out.

"With that vicious carpet bombing, Bakugo advances to the third round! And that completes the final four!" Mic announces, pulling up the scoreboard display.

1: _Shouto Todoroki_

2: _Error CQ_

3: _Ink Comyet_

4: _Katsuki Bakugo_

Error hums to himself as he sees his name up on the screen, turning and giving Izuku a little salute.

" **ANd i'M oFf,** " he says, walking back out to head down to the waiting rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Deku!" Uraraka called out excitedly, waving him over to her.

"Midoriya! You feeling better?" Cross asked with a smile. 

"Yep! Recovery Girl healed me up well! But I still need to be a bit careful with lifting stuff until tomorrow, haha-" Izuku mentioned, plopping down in between Iida and Uraraka. 

"Shouldn't you be resting? It's important to get better!" Iida said, his hands moving in their usual chopping motions as he spoke. 

"Nah, it's alright. I want to properly watch the efforts of everyone who wants to become a hero," Izuku replied, his eyes soft as he looked down at where Shouto stood. 

"Well- Is Shouto alright-? Midnight had put him to sleep! Was something wrong?" Uraraka asked with concern.

"He's doing better now! He just- Wasn't entirely there at the end of the fight- But he's rested and healed, so he should be ok!" 

Cross looked unconvinced, turning to Nightmare as the other stared down at where Error stood. Nightmare gave a small hum, confirming Izuku's statement but didn't say anything else. The negative energy radiating from Shouto during Izuku and his match was potent enough for him to feel from the stands. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The first match of the semi-finals!" Mic narrated, "Both recommendation students with extreme power! From the Hero Course, we have, Error CQ!"

Error stood in his place, his expression schooled as he allowed his gaze to evaluate Shouto's stance.

"Also from the Hero Course, Shouto Todoroki!"

Shouto matched this sentiment, trying to assess Error's weak points since he hadn't been awake to analyze Error's previous match. He had seen the other's match with Iida and knew that he would need to be much faster if he were going to avoid those strings and strange blue bones. 

His eyes darkened, a seed of doubt planted in his chest.

He wasn't used to feeling doubt.

"Ready?!"

Error cracked their knuckles, their hands going up to scratch at their sockets.

"Start!!"

Shouto did not wait, he couldn't. He swung his right arm up quickly, meaning to summon a wave of ice as he had in the prelim course. But Error was faster, quickly leaping up into the air and jumping over the attack. They slid down it instead, arms out with strings tangled between their fingers. Shouto's eyes widened, and he jumped out of the way just as Error swung at him.

"And right off the bat, we have another overwhelming amount of power from Shouto! But Error was much faster, catching our golden boy off guard!" Mic narrates.

Error instead goes for Shouto's legs, wrapping his strings around one of them. Shouto struggles to try and get it off, but before he could even react, he's soaring through the air. 

Had he been thrown-?

No time to think-

Shouto quickly calls forward a huge glacier, slamming his back into it before he could go out of bounds. He let out a grunt of pain, falling way too quickly to the ground.

Error catches him in his strings again, tying him to his glacier so he couldn't move. For extra measure, those strange blue bones impale his shoulders. For an honest moment, Shouto looked over it them, fearful of seeing blood and feeling the pain.

But there was neither.

Just a sort of TV static feeling in his arms, like when they fell asleep. 

He looked to Error, anger burning in his eyes as he tried to get out before they could do anything else. 

Error, on the other hand, stood there.

They waited, patiently, to see if Shouto could get himself out. They had no intention of rubbing it in if they had already won, so they waited. Shouto seemed to get even angrier at their lack of attack, the ice behind them starting to melt as his left side heated up.

"Fight me then!! Throw me out of bounds, knock me out, do something!!" he yelled in frustration.

**"nO."** Error shrugged.

"Todoroki! Can you move?" Midnight called.

"Yes!! Give me a second-!!" he spat back.

He let out a strangled cry of pain and anger as he ripped himself off of the glacier, the bones still implanted firmly in his shoulders. Error had partly released them, on account of if Shouto had kept pulling and thrashing like that he could have seriously hurt himself. What is it with these kids and no self-preservation-

Shouto's lungs heaved as they struggled to push air out fast enough, his eyes narrow with determination. He brought his right hand up to the bone on his left shoulder, letting it freeze over before he swung his leg up high enough to shatter the frozen weapon. He grit his teeth though, the TV static having long evolved into numbness. 

Error's eyes widened slightly in concern, his arms back out on his sides. 

" **YOu nEeD TO lEArN sOMe SElF-PREseRvAtION kId. HaD I nOT reLEaSed tHaT LaST sEConD yOU cOUld HAvE rIPpeD yOUr aRm ofF. ThIS is NOt wORtH ThAT.** "

"Shut up. Don't tell me what you think this is worth to me. Not when that bastard is watching me and seething," Shouto hissed, wiping the blood away from his nose.

" **ThEN lEt mE hELp.** "

"What?"

Shouto froze, his eyes widening. 

**"sHoUTo. wE hAVeN'T taLkEd mUcH, a MisTAkE On mY pArT AlONe. bUt. YoU'RE sWeET, fUNny, sMArT, anD MOst IMpOrTANtLY, YouR OwN pERsOn. aS SomEOnE Who'S hAD thEIr aUtoNOmy sTRiPpeD FrOM thEM bEFoRe, I WaNt tO HeLP yOU tAKe y-y-Y-OuRS b-B-Bb-a-ACk- f-fF-Ro-M-m hI-i-I-i-..."** Error took a breath, trying to calm his glitch, " **fRom Him.** "

Shouto stared at him, unmoving. His eyes were full of emotions he couldn't quite name, but they weren't all bad, thankfully. He seemed to notice his lack of movement, zoning back in to hear Present Mic question if Error had a quirk like Shinsou. He shook his head, his left side steaming up again as his eyes glazed over.

"Liar..."

He took a step forward.

"LIAR-!!"

...

He stopped. 

The strings wrapped around his joints were like a nice comfort, really. A warm hug. He could feel himself grow tired, his eyes drooping as he was gently lowered to the ground. He felt a protest in the back of his head, wanting to get up and fight more but- Sleep sounded so nice right now...

Yeah.. Just...

A small nap...

Error pressed a hand against Shouto's hair gently, brushing it out of his face as the other boy fell asleep. His own mismatched eyes were soft with sympathy, trying to repress the guilt he felt. They were going to help this kid. He reminded them too much of his younger self not to. He looked over to Midnight, nodding to her when he was sure Shouto was out.

"Todoroki is out of commission! Error advances to the next round!!"


	13. Direct Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sports Festival (The Finals, Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: Thank you all so much for reading! I love getting comments, and your kudos make me super happy, inspiring me more!  
> And, someone asked me earlier but if you want to make fanart (which will make me cry with happiness), you can send it to me through Instagram!  
> My insta is: wichkount, so if you wanna chat or something other, dm me!  
> I also have art there too, so you'll definitely be seeing art about this fic there!  
> Thank you all so much again!

Error looked down at his hands as he sat in the waiting room, magic bubbling underneath the thin layer of cartilage protecting them.

He was trying to focus.

Which was near god impossible, since he had too many things to try and focus on, but he was trying. Trying not to think too hard on the broken look in Todoroki's eyes before he had lost.

He blinked, his hands closing gently as he let that thought pass him by.

We have Katsuki to fight, next, they thought to themselves, we need a new angle to avoid the heat.

Against Todoroki, he had honestly been hoping that the other wouldn't use his flames again. Not just because of his disadvantage, but also since he knew Todoroki's first reaction was bad enough. But against Katsuki?

He had no choice but to face him head-on.

But how?

They jerked their head up when they heard the door get kicked open, looking over to Katsuki's confused expression.

"Huh-? What are _you_ doing here-? This is waiting room..." Katsuki peaked his head back out to check the room number before sighing and rolling his eyes, "2- Dammit-"

A flicker of amusement passed over Error's eyes before he looked back down to his hands, his form glitching harshly as a particularly bad attack racked his body.

Katsuki's eye twitched in irritation.

He hated not knowing things.

Heavy footfalls echoed through the room as Katsuki made his way over to Error's table, trying his best to keep his cool out of consideration.

"Hey, I may have gotten the wrong room, but like hell I'm making my way across the whole damn stadium just to seethe quietly. What happened in your fight, huh? You could have hurt that Icyhot bastard."

 ** _'I released him before that could happen. He wasn't ok, and he wouldn't have been able to do much in a fight against you in that state.'_** Error signed to him, looking up to meet his eyes.

Katsuki pursed his lips, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away.

"Whatever. Doesn't mean shit."

 **"... ToDOrOki's yOUr pARtNEr. yOU kNow hIm bETtER thAn i DO. iS hE alW-w-W-W-aYS-S-s- lI-I-Ike t-t-HA T-"** Error's hand went up to his throat and eye socket as another glitch attack racked through him.

Katsuki stepped back a bit as the glitches expanded, his brow furrowing in slight concern (though he would never admit it).

"... I'll answer that if you answer this; What's up with you? Why are you so... So material like? Most extras I know don't glitch 'n shit like that."

Error took a moment, trying to calm his glitches enough to speak or sign again, but they weren't letting up. They let out what Katsuki assumed was a sigh, before summoning a floating window appearing with text.

 _'I'm not supposed to exist. I am the result of a mistake in my world's coding. Because of that, my body is constantly rejected by the physical world. It also means I have abilities no one is supposed to have. Now you tell me,'_ it read.

"That sounds like some bullshit, but I don't have any better explanation for you, so I don't care. And it doesn't... Yeah. He's always like that. 'S what happens when you get shitty parents... I should know..." he mumbled the last part under his breath, turning back towards the door, "But it doesn't matter now. He's probably with Deku right now. You should be getting ready to fight me or forfeiting because I'm not gonna go easy on you."

 **"Ww-w-w-ouLDn'T w-w-a-a-aA-An-t yo-yO-YO-yOu t-to-o-o"** Error got out slowly, their voice rapidly changing pitches.

Katsuki nodded, waving carelessly as he headed out without shutting the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's finally the last battle of the Yuuei High School Sports Festival!" Mic shouted as the crowd fidgeted anxiously in their seats, "The top of the first years will be decided with this one match!"

The crowd roared out of excitement, the flames reignited onstage.

"The final, so to speak! From the Hero Course, Error CQ!"

Error stood at in his place, their hands folded behind their back as they kept their eyes trained on his opponent.

"Versus -- Also from the Hero Course, Katsuki Bakugo!"

Katsuki, on the other hand, had his arms held out by his side, a grin on his face as he waited for Mic to announce the start.

From the stands, Shouto leaned against Izuku's shoulder tiredly, having insisted on leaving the medbay to watch Katuski fight. Izuku held his hand gently, but his eyes were trained worriedly on Kaachan.

He knew, better than anyone, Kaachan would have no problem holding his own. He was a lot smarter than he seemed. He was more worried about the factor of the unknown.

Aizawa had said himself that Error and his family did not have Quirks, and Error called it magic instead. But no one here knew anything about how exactly their magic worked.

Did it have the same limitations as a quirk?

Was it a physical ability like a quirk?

Was is in endless supply, or did it need to be recharged? And if so, by what?

Do the users suffer from exhaustion from overuse?

What about the biological factors-

"Izuku... You're muttering again..." Shouto said quietly, squeezing his hand.

"Sorry- Just- Worried-"

"He'll be ok. You know it."

"I know- But I can't help but worry- Sorry-"

Shouto shook his head, bringing Izuku's hand up to his face to press a small kiss to it.

"I should be sorry..."

"Shouto..."

"Ready-?!!"

Izuku jerked, his attention snapping back to the fight.

"Start!!"

Error stood there, waiting for Katsuki to make the first move. He was tired, the constant use of magic nonstop finally catching up to him after days. He could still fight, without his main projectiles and offence attacks, but he'd rather see what Katsuki could do.

Luckily for him, Katsuki took that as a challenge. He grinned, drawing his hands back behind him and propelling himself forward with his explosions. Error waited until he was close enough before making a move. 

He held his hand out, flicking his fingers to mimic Midoriya. A wave of error signs and offset glitches shooting forward. This wasn't so much magic as it was releasing the excess errors he didn't need. But it was still satisfying to see the look of surprise on Katsuki's face as he was consumed by it. 

"What was that?! Error seems to have sent forth some kind of... Material error? What even is that?!"

Katsuki let out a cry of pain and surprise as he felt his body shift, the feelings of numbness and TV static encasing him. Then, suddenly, it wasn't.

He opened his eyes to see what happened, nearly choking on his spit when he realized just how fucking high up in the air he was. He could see the whole stadium, the building looking like nothing but a mere small blue ring. He had no time to react since one second he was soaring, and the next he was laying on the ground, gasping for breath.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO-?!" He yelled, getting back up and whipping around to face Error.

He looked taken aback, however, at how... weak the other suddenly looked. Judging by the expression he was wearing, and the sweat pooling at his brow, Error hadn't meant to propel him so high. 

**"m-m-M-MM-m-iSs-sSS-S-Sf-IRe-ee-e-"** he said, **"sS-S-s-sorR-R-r-rY-"**

Katsuki said nothing, simply gritting his teeth and hold his arms out again. 

"Don't do that shit again if you know it's not gonna work, dumbass-"

Error only nodded, instead pulling his strings from his eyes. They winced as they did so, though, nonetheless pushing themselves to make a web. Their fingers clenched around the strings tangled between them and the blinked furiously to try and keep the moisture that was being drained from their eyes. 

So it _was_ a physical ability, huh?

Katsuki grinned, the pieces connecting in his head as he calmed his explosions. He ducked and weaved around the strings shot at him, his confidence growing as he noticed the attacks slowing. As he heard Error begin to let out glitched pants of overexertion, he took his chance. 

He reared back, his arms flush at his sides as he shot himself into the air. 

One.

Two.

Three blasts and he was spinning, dust whipping up around him as he gained speed.

Error's eyes widened in surprise and they tried to summon a wall of bones or _something_ to protect them from the growing heat. But their arms flopped uselessly, too shaky to properly call forth something. 

"Howitzer... Impact-!" 

Katsuki's hands connected with the ground, the light that emitted from them travelling faster than the thunderous boom that accompanied it. The reaction was delayed, but everyone in the stands could feel the incredible heat from the monstrous blast. The light from the explosion grew brighter, Error overwhelmed by that alone. 

Not that the brightness mattered, since Error was blown away by the wind force that whipped at him mercilessly. 

"He added momentum and rotation to the huge blast he showed us in his fight with Uraraka! He was like a human projectile!!" Mic shouted over the roar of the wind, "It looks like Error was unable to call forth a shield in time!"

Katsuki panted, wiping the sweat from his brow as he stood up from the ground. The smoke was starting to clear, but he was still looking around cautiously. 

With that crazy bastard's power, there was no such thing as too careful, right?

And boy was he right to assume so.

Katsuki's jaw dropped as he stared the humongous vanta skull in the eyes, a low thrumming coming from it. 

"AMAZING!! What is that thing?! Error seems to have pulled yet another trick from their sleeve!!"

Ruby eyes stared into golden, torn between admiration and fear. But before too long, the skull dematerialized into nothing but mere specks of dust. Error stood behind it, his gym uniform damp with sweat.

 **"h-Hh-hH-eat- s-sens-s-s-ti-i-ve-"** he got out quietly, before dropping to the ground. 

Midnight came over to them, dropping to one knee as she checked them. She held up a hand after a minute, calling out.

"Error is unconscious! Which means, Bakugo wins!!"

The crowd exploded into cheers. 

"And now, all of the events have been completed! The winner of this year's first-year Yuuei sports festival is... From Class A, Katsuki Bakugo!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katsuki punched the wall, the poor concrete caving under the force.

"I SHOULD HAVE FUCKING REALIZED!!" He yelled angrily, ignoring the blood streaming from his clenched knuckles. 

"Kaachan- It's not your fault- No one could have known-"

" _CHARRED_ , DEKU, HE'S CHARRED!! BURNS I CAN GET BUT THAT SHIT IS NEVER COMING OFF, RECOVERY GIRL SAID IT HERSELF!!"

"Katsuki-"

" **NO**!!" Katsuki spun, facing his partners with tears coming down his face, "NOT ONLY WAS HE TOO WEAK TO FIGHT, BUT NOW I WENT AND FUCKED EVERYTHING UP BECAUSE I DIDN'T FUCKING NOTICE IN TIME!! THIS WIN MEANS FUCKING NOTHING!!"

" _Katsuki!_ " Izuku stood, walking over and taking Katsuki's face in his hands gently.

" _Listen_ to me. Why are you upset about winning this? Are you really upset about that or are you upset that Error wasn't able to give his all?" Izuku asked him, rubbing his thumbs over Katsuki's tear tracks. 

"...The latter," Katsuki mumbled, sniffling. 

"Why does that upset you, Kaachan?" Izuku asked, softer this time.

"...I... I'm not talking about fucking feelings- It's stupid-"

"Kaachan-"

"You're afraid of becoming invisible, right?"

The both of them turned to Shouto as he had spoken up, Katsuki's eyes wide but his brow furrowed.

"What-?"

"You think that because they couldn't give their all, they let you win. And you're afraid that when they can, that you'll end up in their shadow." Shouto said softly.

"Since when have you been paying attention in therapy-?" Izuku joked.

"I haven't- I just... I know you, I guess."

Katsuki stayed silent for a moment, his tears slowing. Izuku held his shoulder gently, looking to him with concern in his eyes.

"... Kaachan?"

Katsuki snapped out of his daze, looking to Izuku for a moment before turning to Shouto. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually wrapped his arms around Shouto. Shouto stood stock still for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. But when Izuku wrapped around them as well, he relaxed and hugged back.

"You gonna be ok, you two? I don't want you to freak out on the podium-" Izuku asked, his hand going up to run through Katsuki's hair. 

"I'll be fine," Shouto assured, "I talked to Hound Dog, so I'm ok. I'm concerned about Katsuki."

"I'm fine you half n half bastard- Don't fuckin worry about me" Katsuki spat quietly, but made no move to remove himself from their current position. 

A knock on the door startled all three of them from their little moment, Izuku quickly letting go of them and getting the door. 

"A-ah! H-hello Ms Midnight!" he said, his voice squeaking in surprise.

"Hello, Midoriya. I've come to collect our first and third place for the ceremony. Can I come in?" Midnight said, her voice softer than usual. 

"O-of course-!"

Izuku moved out of her way, allowing her to walk into the room. Katsuki had sat on the floor in the corner of the room, just taking a moment to himself so he wouldn't explode again. 

What if they tied him up to the podium if he got upset again? And with his foul mouth, they might even- 

Katsuki couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

Nothing over his mouth. Not again.

His hand went up to his throat, absentmindedly rubbing over it as Midnight spoke with Shouto behind him. He was too lost in his own little world to hear what was being said. Hence why he flinched when he felt a hand on his back.

"Bakugo? Are you ready to head up now?" Midnight asked.

"...Yeah. I'm coming," he muttered, shrugging her hand off and standing up.

Izuku gave him a small reassuring smile before grabbing his jacket and heading to the door.

"I'll see you two out there, ok? Love you-!" he finished quickly before speeding out and down the hallway. 

Katsuki made a small 'tch' but couldn't really fight the bit of colour that rushed to his cheeks. Shouto gave him a twitch of a smile, grabbing his hand and pulling him along as they followed Midnight to the podium.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, we will begin the award ceremony!" Midnight announced, holding her hand up high with a flashy smile.

Bouts of confetti, lights, fireworks, and smoke were shot off in retaliation. The crowd was cheering, excitement rolling through the stadium in suffocating waves. Nightmare faked a gag and Dream elbowed him with a glare.

A gleaming marble podium rose from the ground behind Midnight, seemingly out of nowhere. Bakugo stood with his head hung and his arms crossed as he stared at his boots. He refused to look over at Error, who stood in 2nd place. He stole a glance at Shouto instead, his expression softening in the slightest when he noticed the other's daze.

He was in deep thought.

"In addition to Todoroki in third place, there was also Comyet, but they were unable to join him because of a personal emergency. Thank you for understanding!" Midnight said to the press.

That caught Error's attention.

His head whipped up from where he was staring, looking over to the third-place stand and indeed noticing the absence of Ink. His eyes scanned the crowd instead, still not finding his creative counterpart. He looked to Dream instead, raising an eyebrow in silent question. She shook her head, pointing down to her wrist and bringing her other hand up to her throat. He nodded in understanding but bit his lip in concern.

Chronic Illness waits for no one, huh.

Izuku looked down at the ground, his brows furrowed in deep thought. 

' _That puts two people out of commission. Iida left for his brother and Comyet for their illness. God-_ ' He groaned to himself quietly, ' _I hope they're ok- Ingenium, for you and your brother's sake, I hope you're alright-_ '

"Now!" Midnight's voice broke him from his thoughts, "We will award the medals! The presentation of the medals will, of course, be by this man-!"

Loud gasps of excitement rose from the crowd and media alike as a familiar silhouette appeared on top of the stadium.

"It's All Might!!"

All Might lept into the air, his huge figure looking bright as he passed under the rays of the sun. He descended in a triple flip, graceful as ever.

"--Our very own hero, All Might-!"

"--I have brought the medals here!!"

There was a moment of silence before Midnight sheepishly let out an apology for speaking over the Number 1 Hero.

"Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with third-place." Midnight said, holding out the tray of medals for All Might to take from.

All Might nodded, taking the third-place medal first and walking over to Shouto.

"Young Todoroki, congratulations!" he started, gently placing the medal over Shouto's head, "I assume there is a reason you didn't use your left side in the final?"

"I had an opportunity in my match with Izuku, but then I became unsure of myself," Shouto said quietly, his voice flat, "I think I understand why you are interested in him." 

He looked over at his partner who was standing with the rest of the classes before staring down at his feet again.

"I wanted to become a hero like you. But I didn't think it would be right for me to be the only one to break away. There is still something I must settle," he finished.

All Might nodded, his smile still present. 

"The look on your face now is completely different than before. I won't ask about the details, unless you feel comfortable," he said, giving Shouto a gentle hug, "I believe you will be able to do what you need when the time comes."

"Yes..."

All Might let go, walking over to the second-place stand.

"Young Error, Congratulations!" he said, following his previous action and setting the medal over Error's head carefully, "You are certainly powerful! Your quirk is nothing like I've ever seen!"

' _ **Thank You,**_ ' Error signed.

"Ah- Apologies but I do not know asl-"

"They said 'thank you'", Katsuki grumbled. 

"Well, of course! You should be proud of being able to propel so fast, even with your sudden transfer!" he complimented, going in for a hug.

Error backed up, shaking his head quickly and holding out his hands as he signed again.

" 'Thank you, but no touching, please' "Katsuki translated again. 

"My apologies- I wish you well, then!" All Might said, backing up from them and heading up to the first-place stand. 

"Now then, Young Bakugo!" He grinned, "Good Job at becoming the number one you said you would be!" 

Katsuki's face darkened as he looked away from him, gritting his teeth.

"First place like this means nothing. Even if everyone in the fucking world recognises it, I don't. So there's no point. Just get on with it," he mumbled.

All Might's face softened in the slightest as he nodded.

"In this world where people are constantly being judged publicly, there are not many who can keep aiming for the top of an unchanging scale. So those who do need to know why they are, and find out if it's really worth it or not."

He held up the gold medal, offering it out to him.

"And for you, your heart is in the right place. But you need to work on how you intend to get there. Take this medal, ok? Think of it as your first milestone in changing yourself for the better, if it helps."

Katsuki glared at the medal for a long moment, as if it had offended him. But, he reached out, taking it and holding it at his side.

"I'm not putting it on."

"And that's ok," All Might said, giving him a hug, "As long as you accept it, that's one step closer to your goal."

All Might gave him a thumbs-up as he stepped down from the podium, addressing the crowd. 

"Well! They were the winners this time! But listen here! Anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. It's just as you saw-- Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of heroes is definitely sprouting! So I have just one more thing to say!" All Might said proudly, holding up his pointer finger that gleamed with power. 

"Everyone, please say it with me! Ready, go--"

"--Plus Ultra!!" the crowd roared.

"--Thank you for your hard work!!"

A brief moment of silence, quickly ended by the overwhelming amount of booing from the crowd.

"It should have been Plus Ultra there, All Might!"

"Well, I thought everyone worked very hard..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good work, everyone, "Aizawa started, looking out at his students with a hint or a smile, "There will be no school tomorrow or the day after. I'm sure the pro heroes who watched the sports festival today will want to recruit you, but we'll consolidate everything and announce it. So rest well, and look forward to that."

"Yes sir!" the room chorused back to him. 

"You have ten minutes until dismissal, don't kill anyone, I'm taking a nap." 

Aizawa zipped himself up in his sleeping bag, flopping over onto the floor and promptly falling asleep. Nightmare gave a sigh, standing up from his seat and stretching out his tentacles to their full length. 

" **You all are fucking exhausting- If I hadn't been there to absorb all of the potent negativity seeping from you, that could have ended so much worse,** " he said as his eye glowed just a bit brighter. 

"Ah- Sorry- Thank you for doing so, though!" Izuku apologised with a sheepish smile. 

**"Don't apologise, I know some of you can't help it. I do, however, remember we do have a therapist here so like,"** Nightmare shrugged passively, **"Do with that information as you want.** "

"Wow, thanks," Kyoka said sarcastically, "I had no idea."

" **Happy to help.** "

"Speaking of which- Where did Iida go-? I haven't seen him since the finals-" Cross asked. 

"Oh-! Iida had to leave because of a family emergency dealing with his brother, Ingenium- He said he's not sure when he'll be back-" Izuku answered.

"Oh damn- I hope they're alright," Dust said sympathetically. 

"But uhm- Error-? Are you ok-? You looked pretty out of it during the award ceremony-" Uraraka asked with concern. 

_**'I'm fine. Just a little dizzy. Katsuki's a really good fighter,'**_ He signed with an encouraging smile. 

"That's good-" Uraraka smiled back. 

"Wha-?! He lets you call him by his first name-?! I can't even say Bakubro without threats!" Denki complained, a pout on his face. 

Error rose an eyebrow, turning to Katsuki with a silent questioning expression. Why _did_ he let them call him by his first name? It was clearly a very personal matter for him, so why did Error get away with it when only a few else did?

**_'I don't know what to tell you, Kami- I've been doing it since I got here and he's never said anything about it-'_ **

"You know, I think someone's trying to add to his bakubowl-" Sero whispered with a devious grin.

"FUCK YOU SOY SAUCE AND MIND YOUR GOD DAMN BUSINESS!!" Katsuki yelled, jumping up from his seat and grabbing Sero by his shirt collar. 

Sero laughed, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright!! Haha, sorry dude-"

Error tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what Sero meant. Maybe it was some kind of inside joke he didn't understand. He shrugged, leaning back in their seat. They looked up when they felt Nightmare's hand on their shoulder, nodding when he held his hand out.

They stood, taking Nightmare's hand and nodding when they were ready. Luckily, this time, they didn't keel over from the power that was being shared with them. They gave a small sigh of relief as they felt their own energy started to replenish, their body relaxing. 

" **Better?** " Nightmare asked, his expression looking rather tired.

" **MuCH.** "Error replied, their voice still a tad bit scratchier than usual. 

Nightmare gave him a small smile, patting them on the back gently. His eye lingered a bit longer on the new mark on Error's face from the fight. His gut reaction had told him to punch that damned blonde kid, but he knew Error wouldn't be happy with him if he did. He also knew the kid couldn't have known about Error's disadvantage, so he couldn't really blame him for going all out. So, instead of marching up to the kid and having him face the monsters in his own head, he smiled and pointed to the goopy side of his face.

" **Look, we match now,** " he joked.

Error rolled their good eye, giving him a smile back and gently punching his arm. 

" **iN YoUR dREamS.** "

" **That's her job, not mine,** " Nightmare joked, pointing to his twin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you figure out who I like writing the most?  
> haha  
> I'm basic but ya know what that's fine basic-bitch pride here  
> also Katsuki is an angry crier and you can fight me on this

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter I wrote a while ago when I first got into bnha but I'm just letting you know now there will be edits n shit bc I am super unsatisfied with my writing like all of the time :'p


End file.
